GREEK  AND  KOMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 


Fig.  53.— Head  of  Niobe.    Florence. 


THE   MYTHOLOGY 


OF 


GREECE   AND   ROME 

WITH  SPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO  ITS  USE  IN  ART 

fnm  tijB  finmn  nf 
(EX  /Stomcmn 

EDITED  BY  G.  H.  BIANCHI  B.A. 

LATI   SCHOLAR   Olf   3.    PETER'3   COLLEGE    CAMBRIDGE,    BKOTHERTON   SANSKRIT 
PRIZEMAN    1875 


WITH  SIXTY-FOUR  ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW   YORK 
HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS 

FRANKLIN     SQUARE 

1892 


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SKEAT'S  ETYMOLOGICAL  DICTIONARY. 


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ANCISNT  HISTORY   OF  THE  EAST.     By 
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Al  a*o«  boob  unt  by  mail,  ptatayt  prtpaij,  to  any  part  of  tht  Unitid  Slatn  it  Canada 
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PKEFACE. 


"TVTO  apology  can  be  needed  for  introducing  to  the 
-*-^  public  a  work  like  the  present.  There  has 
long  been  a  want  of  a  book  which  should,  in  a  mod- 
erate compass,  give  a  clear  and  readable  account  of 
these  legends;  for  Dictionaries  of  Mythology  do 
not  give  a  view  of  the  subject  as  a  whole  ;  and  the 
price  of  most  other  works  on  the  Greek  and  Roman 
myths  would  prevent  their  being  used  as  class-books. 
These  considerations  have  led  the  publishers  to 
bring  out  this  book  in  an  English  dress. 

If  any  should  be  inclined  to  ask  what  mythology 
has  to  do  with  men  of  the  present  day,  the  reply  is 
plain.  The  works  of  art  in  our  galleries  and  muse- 
ums require  a  certain  amount  of  knowledge  of  the  ^ 
mythology  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  for  the  full 
appreciation  of  their  subjects.  There  is  hardly  any 
literature  in  Europe  which  has  not  been  more  or  y 
less  colored  by  these  legends ;  and  in  our  own  day 
their  power  to  inspire  the  poet  has  by  no  means 
ceased.  Nay,  they  have  incorporated  themselves 
into  our  very  language :  "  Herculean  strength "  is 
almost  as  common  an  expression  now  as  it  was  two 


2210109 


8  PREFACE. 

thousand  years  ago ;  and  we  still  talk  of  "  chimer- 
ical" expectations,  describe  a  man  as  "tantalized," 
and  use  the  Sphinx  as  the  symbol  of  the  mysterious. 

The  present  work,  translated  from  the  German  of 
O.  Seemann,  seems  well  adapted  to  convey  a  knowl- 
edge of  these  myths.  It  is  illustrated  with  cuts  af- 
ter some  of  the  masterpieces  of  ancient  art.  Partic- 
ular attention  has  been  paid  to  this  branch  of  the 
subject,  and  the  principal  works  of  art  in  each  case 
are  mentioned. 

The  distinction  between  Greek  and  Roman  dei- 
ties and  heroes  has  been  preserved,  but  the  conven- 
tional spelling  has  been  retained.  A  full  index  is 
appended,  in  which  the  quantities  of  the  vowels  are 
carefully  marked. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

PAOB 

1  SUBJECTS  OF  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 15 

II.  POPULAR  IDEAS  CONCERNING  THE  GODS.  .  17 


PART  I.-COSMOGONY  AND  THEOGONY. .  .  21 


PART  II.-THE  GODS. 

I— THE  GODS  OF  OLYMPUS. 

A.— SUPERIOR  DEITIES. 

Zeus  (Jupiter) 27 

Hera  (Juno)    35 

Pallas  Athene  (Minerva) 40 

Apollo 47 

Artemis  (Diana) 56 

Ares  (Mars) 59 

Aphrodite  (Venus) 65 

Hermes  (Mercurius) 71 

Hephaestus  (Vulcan) 78 

Hestia  (Vesta) 82 

Janus 86 

Quirinus 89 

B.— SECONDARY  DEITIES. 

1.  Attendant  and  Ministering  Deities: 

Eros  (Amor) 90 

The  Muses 93 

The  Charites  (Gratias) 95 


10  CONTENTS. 

PAOB 

Themi*  and  the  Horae  (Seasons) 98 

Nice  (Victoria) 100 

Iris 101 

Hebe  (Juventas) 102 

Ganymedes , .  104 

2.  The  Phenomena  of  the  Heavens: 

Helios  (Sol) 105 

Selene  (Luna) 107 

Eos  (Aurora) 108 

The  Stars 109 

The  Winds 110 

3.  Gods  of  Birth  and  Healing: 

Asclepius  (.(Esculapius) Ill 

Inferior  Deities  of  Birth  and  Healing 113 

4.  Deities  of  Fate: 

The  Moene  (Parcae) 114 

Nemesis,  Tyche   (Fortuna),  and   Agathodaemon   (Bonus 
Eventus) 116 

IL— THE  GODS  OF  THE  SEA  AND  WATERS. 

Poseidon  (Neptunus) 118 

Amphitrite 122 

Triton  and  the  Tritons 123 

Pontus  and  his  Descendants  : 

Nereus  and  his  Daughters 123 

Thaumas,  Phorcys,  Ceto 124 

Proteus 125 

Glaucus 126 

Ino  Leucothea,  and  Melicertes 126 

The  Sirens 127 

The  Race  of  Oceanus 128 

III— THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER  WORLD. 

Gaea  (Tellus) 130 

Rhea  Cybele  (Magna  Mater  Idsea) 131 

Dionysus,  or  Bacchus  (Liber) 133 

The  Nymphs 144 

The  Satyrs 146 

Silenus 148 

Greek  and  Roman  Wood-spirits : 

Pan..                                                                                     .  149 


CONTENTS.  11 

PA<3E 

Silvanus 162 

Faunus  mid  Fauna 153 

Priapus 164 

Saturnus  and  Ops 155 

Vertumnus  and  Pomona 157 

Flora 158 

Pales 158 

Terminus 159 

Demeter  (Ceres) 160 

Persephone  (Proserpina) 166 

Hades  (Pluto) 169 

The  Lower  World 171 

The  Erinyes  (Furias) 174 

Hecate 176 

Sleep  and  Death 179 

IV.— ROMAN  DEITIES  OF  THE  HOUSE  AND  FAMILY. 

The  Penates 180 

The  Lares 182 

The  Larva;,  Lemures,  and  Manes 183 


PART  IIL-THE  HEROES. 

I.— INTRODUCTORY 184 

n.— THE    CREATION    AND    PRIMITIVE    CONDITION    OF 

MANKIND 187 

Hi— PROVINCIAL  HEROIC  LEGENDS: 

The  Lapithae  and  the  Centaurs 191 

Theban  Legend : 

Cadmus 196 

Actceon 198 

Amphion  and  Zethus 200 

Corinthian  Legend : 

Sisyphus 207 

Glaucus 208 

Bellerophon  and  the  legend  of  the  Amazons 208 

Argive  Legend : 

lo 214 

Danaus  and  the  Dana'ids 215 

Prcetus  and  his  Daughters 21G 

Perseus..  .  217 


12  CONTENTS. 

PAOR 

The  Dioscuri 224 

Heracles  (Hercules) 227 

The  Birth  and  Youth  of  Heracles 228 

Heracles  in  the  Service  of  Eurystlieus 230 

Deeds  of  Heracles  after  his  /Service 238 

Death  and  Apotheosis 243 

Heracles  as  God 244 

Attic  Legend : 

Cecrops 250 

JB/rechtheus,  or  Erichthonius 251 

Theseus 252 

Cretan  Legend : 

Minos  and  the  Minotaur 261 

Talos 264 

IV.— COMBINED   UNDERTAKINGS   OF  THE   LATER   HE- 
ROIC AGE. 

The  Calydonian  Hunt 264 

The  Argonauts 267 

The  Theban  Cycle 272 

The  Trojan  Cycle 276 

The  Heroic  Races  of  the  Trojan  War : 

The  Dardanidce,  or  Race  of  Dardanus 277 

The  Pelopidce,  or  Race  of  Pelops 278 

The  ^Eacidce,  or  Race  of  ^Eacus 281 

Nestor,  tJie  Locrian  Ajax,  Diomedes,  and  Odysseus 284 

The  War 285 

The  Return 294 

V.— MYTHIC  SEERS  AND  BARDS 299 

INDEX..  .  303 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTKATIONS. 


FI&.  PAOfl 

1.  Bust  of  Cronus.     Vatican  Museum 24 

2.  Cameo  of  Athenion 26 

3.  Zeus  of  Otricoli.     Vatican  Museum  . .  .  .  , 32 

4.  Jupiter  Verospi.     Vatican  Museum 33 

5.  Coins  of  Elis  with  Phidias's  Zeus.     (After  Overbeck.) 34 

6.  Barberini  Juno.     Vatican  Museum 37 

7.  Head  of  Hera,  perhaps  after  Polycletus.     Naples 38 

8.  Pallas  Giustiniani.     Vatican 44 

9.  Athene  Polias.     Villa  Albani 45 

10.  Pallas  Athene.     Naples 46 

11.  Apollo  Belvedere.     Vatican 52 

12.  Head  of  Apollo  Belvedere 53 

13.  Apollo  Citharoedus.     Munich 55 

14.  Diana  of  Versailles 58 

15.  Mars  Ludovisi 63 

16.  Bust  of  Ares.     Sculpture  Gallery  at  Munich 64 

17.  Venus  of  Milo.     Louvre 69 

18.  Venus  Genetrix.     Villa  Borghesc 70 

19.  Resting  Hermes.     Bronze  Statue  at  Naples 76 

20.  Statue  of  Hermes.     Capitoline  Collection 77 

21.  Hephaestus.     Bronze  Figure  in  the  British  Museum 81 

22.  Vesta  Giustiniani.     Torlonia  Collection 85 

23.  Head  of  Eros.     Vatican   90 

24.  Eros  trying  his  Bow.     (Japitoline  Museum 91 

25.  Polyhymnia.     Berlin  Museum 94 

26.  Melpomene.     Vatican 96 

27.  Euterpe.     Vatican 97 

28.  The  Horse.     Relief  from  the  Villa  Albani .    99 

29.  Victoria.     United  Collections  in  Munich 101 

30.  Hebe.     From  Antonio  Canova 103 

31.  Ganymedes  and  the  Eagle.     From  Thorwaldsen 105 


14  LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 

FIG.  PAGB 

32.  Asclepius.     Berlin 112 

33.  Head  of  Asclepius.     British  Museum 113 

34.  Night  and  the  Fates.     From  Carstens 115 

35.  Poseidon.     Dolce  Gem 121 

36.  Dionysus  and  Lion.     From  the  Monument  of  Lysicrates.. . .  135 

37.  The  so-called  Sardanapalus  in  the  Vatican 137 

38.  Youthful  Dionysus.     From  the  Chateau  Richelieu,  now  in 

the  Louvre 139 

39.  Marble  Head  of  Youthful  Dionysus  at  Ley  den 140 

40.  Sleeping  Ariadne.     Vatican 142 

41.  Dannecker's  Ariadne.     Frankfort-on-the-Main 143 

42.  Head  of  Satyr.     Munich  Sculpture  Gallery 147 

43.  Pan.     From  a  Mural  Painting  at  Herculaneum 152 

44.  Demeter  Enthroned.     Painting  from  Pompeii.     Naples 165 

45.  Persephone  Enthroned.     Painting  from  Pompeii.     Naples..  168 

46.  Head  of  Hades.    Palazzo  Chigi.     Rome 170 

47.  Three-formed  Hecate.     Capitoline  Museum 177 

48.  Metope  of  the  Parthenon 193 

49.  From  the  Frieze  of  the  Temple  at  Bassae 194 

50.  Centaur  teaching  a  Boy  to  play  upon  the  Pipe.     Relief  by 

Kundmann 195 

51.  Actaeon  Group.     British  Museum 199 

52.  Farnese  Bull.     Naples 201 

53.  Head  of  Niobe.     Florence Frontispiece. 

54.  Niobe.     Florence 206 

55.  Amazon.     Berlin 212 

56.  Perseus  and  Andromeda.     Marble  Relief  in  the  Museum  at  - 

Naples 222 

57.  Rondanini  Medusa.     Munich 223 

58.  Farnese  Hercules 248 

59.  Elgin  Theseus.     British  Museum 258 

60.  Theseus  Lifting  the  Rock.     Relief  in  the  Villa  Albani 259 

61.  Laocoon.     Group 292 

62.  Priam  before  Achilles.     Relief  by  Thorwaldsen 297 

63.  Rape  of  Helen.     Campana  Collection.     Paris 298 

64.  Orpheus  and  Eurydice.     Marble  Relief  in  the  Villa  Albani.  300 


INTRODUCTION. 

I.    SUBJECTS    OF    GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

MYTHS  may  be  described  as  poetic  narratives  of  the 
birth,  life,  and  actions  of  the  old  heathen  gods  and 
heroes  or  demi-gods.  Both  myth  and  legend*  arc  distin- 
guished from  the  "  Miihrchen,"  or  popular  tale,  by  not  be- 
ing, like  the  latter,  a  mere  product  of  the  imagination,  but 
always  being  founded  on  some  preceding  reality,  whether 
that  be  an  oft-recurring  phase  of  nature,  or  a  distinct  and 
real  occurrence.  It  is  often  most  difficult  to  recognize 
with  any  precision  the  true  germ  of  a  myth,  on  account  of, 
the  numerous  additions  and  alterations  made  by  the  poets. 
And  therefore  the  question,  whether  a  particular  tradition 
be  a  myth  or  not,  is  very  hard  to  answer :  on  one  side  we 
are  tempted  to  view,  in  the  god  or  demi-god,  the  hero  of  a 
tribe  magnified  to  superhuman  proportions  by  the  admi- 
ration of  posterity;  and,  on  the  other  side,  comparison  of 

*  The  German  word  "  sage  "  (legend)  is  really  only  a  translation  of 
the  Greek  word  "  mythos,"  and  is  often  used  in  that  sense.  But  late- 
ly the  custom  has  tacitly  sprung  up  of  employing  the  term  "mythos" 
when  speaking  of  the  life  or  actions  of  the  gods,  and  "  sage  "  when 
speaking  of  those  of  heroes. 


16  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

the  legends  of  different  families  of  nations  points  us  to 
the  operations  of  nature,  not  only  in  the  demi-god  or  the 
hero,  but  in  the  animals  of  fable  and  the  traditions  of  the 
nursery. 

A  large  proportion  of  these  myths  are  due  to  men's  ob- 
servations of  Nature,  and  her  various  active  and  creative 
forces,  which  appeared  to  their  lively  Southern  fancy  as 
manifestations  of  single  supernatural  beings.     These  were 
regarded,  now  as  friendly,  now  as  hostile,  to  man;  and 
men  therefore  strove  as  eagerly  to  gain  their  favor  as  to 
appease  their  wrath.     Of  the  appearance  of  the  deities 
who  thus  manifested  themselves  in  the  workings  of  nature, 
men  necessarily  formed  at  first  very  crude  and  fantastic 
s  ideas.     But  later,  when  men  emerged  from  the  simple  con- 
/    ditions  of  the  early  patriarchal  epoch,  and  began  to  dwell 
in  regular  political  communities,  they  gradually  ceased  to 
regard  the  gods  as  mere  personifications  of  natural  forces. 
\       They  began  to  regard  them  as  beings  acting  in  accordance 
\     with  unchangeable  moral  laws,  and  endowed  with  forms  sim- 
\  ilar  to  those  of  men  (Anthropomorphism).     They  brought 
the  gods  into  connection  with  each  other  by  means  of  gene- 
alogies in  a  great  measure  artificial,  and  built  up  a  vast  po- 
litical system,  which  has  its  centre  in  Zeus,  the  "  father  of 
gods  and  men." 

Strange  to  say,  however,  it  was  only  among  the  Greeks 

(that  this  system  of  development  prevailed.  The  nations 
of  Italy  still  continued  to  regard  their  gods  as  mere  natural 
forces — that  looked  down  on  them  in  a  cold,  strange  fash- 
ion—  of  whose  form  and  mode  of  life  they  had  no  clear 
idea.  It  was  only  later,  when  the  Romans  came  into  intel- 
lectual contact  with  their  Greek  neighbors,  and  began  to 
study  their  language  and  literature,  that  they  adopted  the 


POPULAR    IDEAS    CONCERNING    THE    GODS.  17 

popular  Greek  conceptions  concerning  the  gods.  They  now 
transferred  existing  myths,  and  fathered  them  on  those  of 
their  own  gods  and  goddesses  who  bore  the  closest  resem- 
blance to  the  Greek  divinities,  and  harmonized  best  with 
their  natural  interpretation.  Thus  it  was  that  the  Roman 
Jupiter  was  identified  with  the  Greek  Zeus,  Juno  with  Hera, 
Minerva  with  Athene ;  though  for  peculiar  deities,  such  as 
Janus,  they  could  find  no  Greek  prototype. 

II.  POPULAR  IDEAS  CONCERNING  THE  GODS. 

We  learn  most  concerning  the  conceptions  the  ancients 
formed  of  their  gods  from  the  numerous  Greek  and  Roman 
poets  whose  works  have  come  down  to  us,  and  who  con- 
tributed so  largely  to  the  construction  of  the  myths.  First 
among  them,  both  in  antiquity  and  importance,  is  Homer. 
In  his  works  we  find  the  whole  political  system  of  Olym- 
pus, with  Zeus  at  its  head,  already  constructed. 

Henceforth  the  gods,  in  outward  appearance  at  least,  are 
endowed  with  forms  entirely  human ;  more  grand  and  beau- 
tiful  and  majestic,  but  still  not  verging  on  the  monstrous 
or  fantastic. 

Not  only  in  beauty  and  grandeur,  but  also  in  strength 
and  vigor,  do  the  gods  surpass  men.  Let  but  Zeus  shake 
his  ambrosial  locks,  and  the  whole  of  Olympus  trembles. 
The  other  deities  are  also  endowed  in  proportion  with  great 
strength.  As  corporeal,  indeed,  they  are  limited  in  regard 
to  space,  and  cannot,  therefore,  be  omnipresent ;  but  this 
restriction  affects  them  far  less  than  mortals,  for  they  can 
compass  the  greatest  distances  at  lightning  speed.  In  a 
moment  Athene  drops  from  the  heights  of  Olympus  down 
to  Ithaca ;  and  Poseidon,  the  ocean-god,  passes,  in  three  of 
four  steps,  from  Samothrace  to  ^Egae,  in  Eubosa.  More- 


18  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

over,  the  gods  can  see  and  hear  at  a  much  greater  distance 
than  men.  In  regard  to  hearing,  indeed,  they  seem  to  have 
unlimited  powers.  Prayers  ascend  to  them  from  every 
place,  irrespective  of  their  personal  presence.  In  the  same 
manner  Zeus,  from  his  high  throne  in  Olympus,  sees  all 
that  passes  among  men,  and,  sitting  on  the  highest  summit 
of  Mount  Ida,  he  can  follow  all  the  events  of  the  battle  that 
rages  before  Troy. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  gods  are  subject  to  the  same  bod- 
ily wants  as  men.  They  refresh  themselves  in  the  same 
way  with  sleep,  and  have  to  support  themselves  with  food 
and  drink.  Here  again,  however,  they  are  far  less  fettered 
than  mortals,  for  they  can  hold  out  much  longer  without 
satisfying  these  wants.  Nor  is  their  food  so  coarse  as  that 
of  men ;  they  live  on  ambrosia  and  nectar.  Another  nat- 
ural necessity  is  clothing,  on  the  tasteful  ordering  of  which 
the  goddesses  even  bestow  extraordinary  care,  and  in  this, 
as  in  many  other  respects,  greatly  resemble  the  daughters 
of  Eve.  Although  later  art  delights  in  representing  some 
of  the  deities  either  slightly  clothed  or  quite  naked,  yet  we 
cannot  justly  conclude  from  this  that  the  popular  belief  of 
the  ancients  conceived  thus  of  those  gods. 

Gods  endowed  with  frames  like  those  of  mortals  must 
necessarily  be  born  in  the  same  way,  and  develop  gradual- 
ly both  in  mind  and  body.  But  here,  again,  everything 
proceeds  with  the  utmost  rapidity.  For  instance,  the  new- 
born Hermes  rises  from  his  cradle  to  steal  the  cattle  of 
Apollo,  and,  coming  into  the  world  in  the  morning,  he  is 
found  in  the  afternoon  playing  on  the  lyre,  which  he  has 
himself  invented.  The  most  important  point,  however,  in 
which  they  surpass  mortals  is  that,  when  once  in  full  pos- 
session of  bodily  and  intellectual  powers,  they  never  grow 


POPULAR    IDEAS    CONCERNING    THE    GODS.  19 

old,  but  remain  ever  young  and  beautiful,  ever  free  from 
disease  and  death.  Compared  with  the  race  of  men,  who 
are  subject  to  need  and  pain,  they  are  the  "  happy," 
"  blessed "  gods,  the  gods  "  who  live  at  ease,"  who  can 
readily  gratify  every  desire.  But  this  does  not  by  any 
means  prevent  their  suffering  occasionally  from  the  pangs 
of  sorrow  and  grief ;  they  are  vulnerable  alike  in  body  and 
soul,  and  exposed  to  every  kind  of  painful  sensation.  So 
completely  did  the  Greeks  and  Romans  subject  their  god1; 
to  human  passions. 

As  regards  mental  qualifications,  they  are  naturally  far 
superior  to  men.  In  the  first  place,  they  stand  higher 
morally ;  they  shun  all  that  is  evil,  impiire,  and  unjust,  and 
visit  with  punishment  the  impiety  and  injustice  of  man. 
This,  again,  does  not  prevent  their  giving  way  to  every  de-  , 
scription  of  vice  and  folly,  such  as  deceit,  lying,  hatred, 
cruelty,  jealousy,  etc.  They  are  far  from  holy,  therefore, 
in  the  sense  in  which  we  speak  of  the  Supreme  Being. 
Still  less  are  they  conceived  as  omniscient  or  omnipotent. 
Their  powers  indeed  are  great,  and  so  is  their  knowledge. 
They  are  able  to  interrupt  the  course  of  nature ;  to  send 
sudden  storms,  pestilences,  and  other  evils ;  to  endow  them- 
selves or  others  with  any  forms  they  like,  and  to  do  many 
other  things,  of  which  we  read  in  fairy  tales.  But  even 
Zeus,  to  whom  a  far  greater  measure  of  power  is  accorded 
than  to  other  gods,  and  on  whose  will  the  government  of 
the  universe  depends,  is  himself  subjected  to  the  immuta- 
ble decrees  of  fate ;  while  the  possibility  of  deceiving  and 
duping  him  is  by  no  means  excluded. 

If  we  look  to  the  employment  of  the  gods,  we  find  that      / 
it  consists  chiefly  in  pleasant  idleness ;  though  they  en- 
deavor, like  the  rich  among  mankind,  to  make  time  fly  by 


20  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

indulging  in  their  favorite  pastimes.  They  take  their 
•V  meals  in  common,  and  assemble  for  this  purpose  in  the 
palace  of  Zeus,  on  the  windy  heights  of  Olympus.  There 
they  refresh  themselves,  while  Hebe  ministers  to  their 
wants,  listening  to  the  strains  of  Apollo's  lute,  and  to  the 
Y'  songs  of  the  sweet -voiced  Muses,  and  entertaining  them- 
selves with  pleasant  conversation.  Not  always,  indeed,  is 
the  company  so  peaceful  and  pleasant.  At  times  these 
great  gods  quarrel  finely ;  nay,  even  small  conspiracies 
arise  to  interrupt  the  uniformity  of  their  existence,  such  as 
that  of  Hera,  Poseidon,  and  Athene  against  Zeus  during 
the  Trojan  war,  which  is  related  in  the  fifteenth  book  of 
the  "  Iliad." 

Lastly,  that  no  point  in  their  resemblance  to  mankind 
may  be  omitted,  all  the  different  deities  are  united  in  one 
great  family,  of  which  Zeus,  the  father  of  men  and  the 
ruler  of  the  gods,  is  the  head  and  centre.  Zeus  has,  how- 
ever,  a  special  dominion  over  the  celestial  deities  only, 
those  of  the  sea  and  waters  being  subjected  to  Poseidon, 
and  those  of  the  lower  world  to  Hades,  or  Pluto. 


PAKT  I.— COSMOGONY  AND  THEOGONY. 


T)Y  Cosmogony,  we  understand  the  legends  relating  to 
-*--*  the  creation  of  the  world ;  by  Theogony,  those  rela- 
ting to  the  origin  of  the  gods.  On  both  points  we  have 
to  deal  with  the  Greeks  alone,  since  the  Romans  never  in-  '' 
dulged  in  any  researches  of  this  kind.  All  that  their  poets 
have  to  say  on  the  subject  is,  without  exception,  borrowed 
from  the  Greeks. 

According  to  the  common  account,  the  world  was  formed 
out  of  Chaos.  By  this,  however,  we  must  not  understand 
a  huge  and  shapeless  mass,  but  merely  dark,  unbounded  ' 
space.  The  accounts  of  the  poets  vary  very  materially  as 
to  how  the  world  proceeded  from  Chaos.  The  most  popu- 
lar view  is  that  according  to  which  Gaea  or  Ge  (the  earth) 
first  issued,  in  no  very  comprehensible  manner  indeed,  from 
the  womb  of  Chaos  ;  whereupon  Tartarus  (the  abyss  be- 
neath the  earth)  immediately  severed  itself,  and  Eros  (the 
love  that  forms  and  binds  all  things)  sprung  into  exist- 
ence. Gsea  then  begot  of  herself  Uranus  (heaven),  the 
mountains,  and  Pontus  (the  sea). 

The  first  gods  who  peopled  this  new  world  were  begot- 
ten of  the  earth  partly  by  Uranus  and  partly  by  Pontus. 
From  her  union  with  Uranus  sprung  the  Titans,  the  Cy- 
clopes, and  the  Centimanes ;  from  her  union  with  Pontus 
various  sea-deities. 


22  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

1.  The  race  of  Uranus.     According  to  Hesiod,  there 
were  twelve   Titans:    six  males  —  Oceanus,  Co3us,  Crius, 
Hyperion,  lapetus,  and  Cronus;  and  six  females  —  Thia, 
Rhea,  Themis,  Mnemosyne,  Phoebe,  and  Tethys.     The  in- 
terpretation of  these  divinities  is  somewhat  difficult,  but 
they  doubtless  represented  the  elementary  forces  of  nature. 
The  Cyclopes  were  three  in  number — Brontes  (thunder), 
Steropes  (lightning),  and  Arges  (sheet  -  lightning) :  these, 
we  can  clearly  see,  refer  to  the  phenomena  of  the  storm. 
The  Centimanes  (hundred-handed),  again,  are  three  in  num- 
ber— Cottus,  Briareus,  and  Gyes.     These,  too,  represent  de- 
structive  forces  of  nature  —  perhaps  the  earthquake,  the 
tempestuous  sea,  and  the  storm-wind. 

2.  The  race  of  Pontus.     By  Pontus  Gsea.  became  the 
mother  of  the  fabulous  sea-deities — Nereus,  Thaumas,  Phor- 
cys,  Ceto,  and  Eurybia.     These,  again,  had  numerous  de- 
scendants.    Nereus  represents  the  sea  in  its  quiet  state : 
we  shall  have  to  speak  of  him  and  his  daughters  later  on. 
Thaumas  represents  to  us  the  majesty  of  the  sea.     He  is 
the  father  of  Iris  (the  rainbow)  and  of  the  Harpies  (storm- 
winds).     Lastly,  Phorcys  and  Ceto,  from  whose  union  the 
frightful  Gorgons  and  Graeae  proceeded,  typify  all  the  dan- 
gers and  terrors  of  the  sea. 

Many  marriages  also  took  place  among  the  Titans  them- 
selves. The  numerous  sea -nymphs  are  descended  from 
Oceanus  and  Tethys;  from  Hyperion  and  Thia  come  the 
deities  of  the  light — Helios  (sun),  Selene  (moon),  and  Eos 
(dawn) ;  from  Coeus  and  Phoebe  the  deities  of  the  night — 
Leto  (dark  night)  and  Asteria  (starry  night). 

The  most  important  of  all  the  Titans,  however,  are 
Cronus  and  Rhea,  who  pave  the  way  for  the  universal  do- 
minion of  their  son  Zeus. 


COSMOGONY  AND  THEOGONY.  23 

Uranus,  fearing  lest  his  last-born  sons,  the  powerful  Cy- 
clopes and  Centimanes,  might  one  day  seize  his  power, 
buried  them  directly  after  birth  in  the  deep  abyss  beneath 
the  earth.  This  displeased  Gaea,  their  mother,  who  there- 
upon prompted  the  Titans  to  conspire  against  their  father, 
and  induced  Cronus,  the  youngest  and  bravest  of  them,  to 
lay  violent  hands  on  Uranus.  Uranus  was  mutilated,  cast 
into  chains,  and  compelled  by  his  sons  to  abdicate  his 
sovereignty,  which  now  passed  to  Cronus.  But  Cronus 
was  not  long  destined  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  crime. 
The  curse  of  Uranus,  who  prophesied  that  he  would  suffer 
a  like  fate  at  the  hands  of  his  own  son,  was  fulfilled.  So 
anxious  was  he  to  avert  such  a  catastrophe,  that  he  swal- 
lowed his  children  immediately  after  their  birth.  Five  had 
already  suffered  this  fate  —  Hestia,  Demeter,  Hera,  Hades, 
and  Poseidon.  But  their  mother  Rhea,  grieved  at  their 
lot,  determined  to  rescue  her  next  son,  Zeus,  by  a  strata- 
gem. In  the  place  of  her  child,  she  gave  to  her  suspicious 
and  cruel  husband  a  stone  wrapped  in  swaddling  -  clothes, 
which  he  swallowed  without  further  examination.  Zeus, 
who  was  thus  rescued,  was  reared  by  the  nymphs  in  a  grot- 
to on  Mount  Dicte,  in  Crete.  The  she -goat  Amalthea 
served  as  his  nurse,  while  the  bees  brought  him  honey  to 
eat.  In  order  that  the  cries  of  the  child  might  not  betray 
his  presence  to  his  suspicious  father,  the  Curetes,  or  attend- 
ant priests  of  Rhca,  drowned  his  voice  in  the  clashing  of 
their  weapons.  Zeus  remained  thus  hidden  until  he  had 
become  a  young  but  powerful  god.  He  then  attacked  and 
overthrew  his  father  Cronus,  whom  he  also  compelled,  by 
means  of  a  device  of  Gsca,  to  bring  forth  the  children  that 
he  had  devoured.  One  part  of  the  Titans — Oceanus,  The- 
mis, Mnemosyne,  and  Hyperion — submitted  without  hesita- 


24  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

tion  to  the  dominion  of  the  new  ruler  of  the  world.  The 
others,  however,  refused  allegiance ;  but  Zeus,  after  a  con- 
test of  ten  years,  overthrew  them,  with  the  help  of  the  Cy- 
clopes and  Centirnanes.  As  a  punishment,  they  were  cast 
into  Tartarus,  which  was  then  closed  by  Poseidon  Avith 
brazen  gates.  Thessaly,  the  land  which  bears  the  clearest 
traces  of  natural  convulsions,  was  supposed  to  have  been 
the  scene  of  this  mighty  war.  Zeus  and  his  adherents 
fought  from  Olympus ;  the  Titans  from  the  opposite  moun- 
tain of  Othrys. 


Fig.  1 — Bust  of  Cronns.    Vaticau  Museum. 

The  Titans,  not  being  actually  objects  of  worship,  were  not  fre- 
quently represented  in  ancient  art.     Cronus  is  the  only  exception, 


COSMOGONY  AND  THEOGONY.  25 

which  may  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  Romans  identified  him 
with  their  own  Saturn,  or  harvest-god.  He  is  generally  depicted  with 
a  severe  and  gloomy  expression  oi'  countenance,  the  back  of  his  head 
being  veiled,  as  a  symbol  of  his  reserved  character.  In  the  Vatican 
Museum,  at  Rome,  there  is  a  bust  of  this  kind  in  good  preservation, 
an  engraving  of  which  we  give  (Fig.  1 ). 

After  his  victory  over  the  Titans,  Zeus  shared  the  em-  % 
pire  of  the  world  with  his  two  brothers,  Poseidon  and  Ha- 
des. The  former  he  made  ruler  of  the  ocean  and  waters ; 
the  latter  he  set  over  the  infernal  regions ;  everything  else 
he  retained  for  himself.  This  new  order  of  things,  how- 
ever, was  by  no  means  securely  established.  The  resent- 
ment of  Gyea  led  her  to  produce  with  Tartarus,  her  young- 
est and  most  powerful  son,  the  giant  Typhoeus,  a  monster 
with  a  hundred  fire  -  breathing  dragons'  heads,  whom  she 
now  sent  to  overthrow  the  dominion  of  Zeus.  A  great  bat- 
tle took  place,  which  shook  heaven  and  earth.  Zeus,  by 
means  of  his  never-ceasing  thunder-bolts,  at  length  over- 
came Typhoeus,  and  cast  him  into  Tartarus,  or,  according 
to  later  writers  (Pindar  and  Virgil),  buried  him  beneath 
Mount  ^Etna  in  Sicily,  whence  at  times  he  still  breathes 
out  fire  and  flames  towards  heaven. 

Some  poets  tell  of  another  rebellion,  that  of  the  Giants, 
against  the  dominion  of  Zeus.  These  are  said  to  have 
sprung  from  the  drops  of  blood  which  fell  on  the  earth 
from  the  mutilated  body  of  Uranus.  From  the  plains  of 
Phlegra,  in  Thessaly,  they  sought  to  storm  Olympus  by 
piling  Pelion  on  Ossa.  But  after  a  bloody  battle,  in  which 
all  the  gods  took  part,  the  two  were  conquered,  and  sent 
to  share  the  fate  of  the  vanquished  Titans.  The  dominion 
of  Zeus  was  now  securely  established,  and  no  hostile  attack 
ever  after  disturbed  the  peaceful  ease  of  the-  inhabitant?  of 
Olympus. 


26 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 


The  early  history  of  Zeus,  as  well  as  his  contests  for  the  empire 
of  the  universe,  commonly  called  the  Giganto-machia,  was  a  favorite 
subject  with  Greek  art.  In  the  more  ancient  of  these  works  the 
Giants  do  not  differ,  either  in  form  or  appearance,  from  the  Gods 
and  Heroes.  In  later  works  they  are  represented  with  the  bodies  of 
dragons,  only  the  upper  portion  of  the  body  being  human.  They 
appear  thus  on  the  celebrated  cameo  of  the  Naples  Museum,  where 
Zeus,  in  his  chariot  drawn  by  four  fiery  horses,  is  in  the  act  of  charg- 
ing them  (Fig.  2). 


Fig.  2.— Cameo  of  Athenion. 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  27 


PAET  II.— THE  GODS. 


I.  — THE   GODS    OF   OLYMPUS. 
A.— SUPERIOR  DEITIES. 

1.  Zeus  (Jupiter).  —  Chief  of  the  celestial  deities  is 
Zeus,  called  by  the  Romans  Jupiter,  the  controller  and  ruler 
of  the  universe.  As  being  the  god  of  heaven  par  excel- 
lence, the  "  Sky-father,"  he  is  to  both  nations  the  source  of 
all  life  in  nature,  and  from  his  gracious  hand  are  shed  bless- 
ing and  abundance.  All  the  phenomena  of  the  air  were 
supposed  to  proceed  from  him.  He  gathers  and  disperses 
the  clouds,  casts  forth  his  lightning,  stirs  up  his  thunder, 
sends  down  rain,  hail,  snow,  and  fertilizing  dew  on  the 
earth.  With  his  aegis — an  impenetrable  shield  hung  with 
a  hundred  golden  tassels,  in  the  midst  of  which  the  fearful 
head  of  the  Gorgon  is  fastened  —  he  produces  storm  and 
tempest.  The  ffigis,  though  often  meaning  shield,  is  prop- 
erly a  goat-skin  fastened  to  and  supporting  the  true  shield  ; 
later  it  appears  as  a  short  cloak,  and  even  as  a  breastplate, 
covered  with  scales,  and  fringed  with  serpents.  It  is  not 
often  found  in  representations  of  Zeus ;  though  a  statue  of 
him  at  Leyden  shows  it,  and  in  a  cameo  he  is  seen  with  it 
wrapped  around  his  left  arm :  similarly  it  was  common  to 
wrap  the  chlamys  or  scarf  round  the  left  arm,  for  purposes 
of  defence.  The  ajgis  usually  belongs  to  Athene,  who  bor- 


y 


28  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

rows  it  from  her  father  in  the  "  Iliad."     She  is  seen  wear- 
ing it  in  Fig.  9. 

The  ancients,  however,  were  not  content  to  regard  Zeus 
merely  as  a  personification  of  Nature ;  they  regarded  him 
also  from  an  ethical  stand-point,  from  which  side  he  appears 
far  more  important  and  awful.  They  saw  in  him  a  person- 
ification, so  to  speak,  of  that  principle  of  undeviating  order 
and  harmony  which  pervades  both  the  physical  and  moral 
world.  The  strict  unalterable  laws  by  which  he  rules  the 
community  of  the  gods  form  a  strong  contrast  to  the  capri- 
cious commands  of  his  father,  Cronus.  Hence  Zeus  is  re- 
garded as  the  protector  and  defender  of  all  political  order. 
From  him  the  kings  of  the  earth  receive  their  sovereignty 
and  rights ;  to  him  they  are  responsible  for  a  conscientious 
fulfilment  of  their  duties.  Those  among  them  who  unjust- 
ly exceed  their  powers  and  pervert  justice  he  never  fails  to 
punish.  Zeus,  moreover,  also  presides  over  councils  and  as- 
semblies, keeps  watch  over  their  orderly  course,  and  sug- 
gests to  them  wise  counsels.  One  of  the  most  important 
props  of  political  society  is  the  oath ;  and  accordingly,  as 
Zeus  Horkios  (op/uoc,  deus  fidius  of  the  Romans),  he  watch- 
es over  oaths,  and  punishes  perjury.  He  also  watches  over 
boundaries,  and  accompanies  the  youths  of  the  land  as  they 
march  to  the  defence  of  their  country's  borders,  giving  them 
the  victory  over  the  invaders.  All  civil  and  political  com- 
munities enjoy  his  protection ;  but  he  particularly  watches 
over  that  association  which  is  the  basis  of  the  political  fab- 
ric— the  family.  The  head  of  every  household  was  there- 
fore, in  a  certain  sense,  the  priest  of  Zeus.  It  was  he  who 
presented  the  offerings  to  the  god  in  the  name  of  the  fam- 
ily. At  his  altar,  which  generally  stood  in  the  middle  of 
the  court  (in  small  households  this  was  represented  by  the 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  29 

hearth),  all  stnugers,  fugitives,  and  suppliants  found  shel- 
ter. As  Zeus  Xenius  (hospitalis)  he  protects  the  wanderer, 
and  punishes  those  who  violate  the  ancient  laws  of  hos- 
pitality by  mercilessly  turning  the  helpless  stranger  from 
their  door. 

The  superstition  of  early  times  saw  in  all  the  phenomena 
of  the  heavens  manifestations  of  the  divine  will.  Thus  the 
chief  deity  of  heaven  was  naturally  regarded  as  the  highest 
source  of  inspiration,  and  was  believed  to  reveal  his  will 
to  men  in  the  thunder,  the  lightning,  the  flight  of  birds,  or 
dreams.  As  the  supreme  oracular  deity,  Zeus  not  only  had 
an  oracle  of  his  own  at  Dodona  in  Epirus,  which  was  the  r 
most  ancient  in  Greece,  but  also  revealed  the  future  by  the 
mouth  of  his  favorite  son  Apollo.  Though  he  possessed 
no  proper  oracle  among  the  Romans,  yet  the  latter  looked 
with  all  the  more  care  and  anxiety  on  the  phenomena  of 
the  air  and  sky,  the  right  interpretation  of  which  formed  a 
special  and  difficult  branch  of  knowledge. 

Zeus  was  the  earliest  national  god  of  the  Greeks.  His  r 
worship  extended  throughout  the  whole  of  Greece,  though 
some  of  his  shrines  had  a  special  importance.  The  most 
ancient  of  them  was  that  at  Dodona,  where  the  Pelasgian 
Zeus  was  worshipped  at  a  time  prior  to  the  existence  of 
any  temples  in  Greece.  He  was  here  represented  in  the 
celebrated  form  of  the  sacred  oak,  in  the  rustling  of  whose 
branches  the  deity  revealed  himself  to  the  faithful.  He 
was  also  worshipped  on  the  summit  of  Mount  Tomarus,  at 
the  foot  of  which  lay  Dodona — mountain-tops  being  nat- 
urally the  earliest  seats  of  his  worship.  But  all  the  earlier 
shrines  were  overshadowed  by  the  great  national  seat  of 
the  worship  of  Hellenic  Zeus  at  Olympia,  on  the  northern 
banks  of  the  river  Alpheus,  in  Elis,  where  the  renowned 


30  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

Olympian  games  were  celebrated.  The  magnificent  statue 
of  Zeus,  by  Phidias,  was  an  additional  inducement  to  dev- 
otees, who  flocked  thither  from  every  quarter. 

Neither  was  the  worship  of  Jupiter  any  less  extensive  in 
Italy.  The  most  renowned  of  all  his  shrines  was  undoubt- 
edly the  temple  erected  by  Tarquin  on  the  Capitol  at  Rome. 
This,  after  being  nearly  destroyed  by  fire  in  the  time  of 
Sulla,  was  restored  to  more  than  its  pristine  splendor.  The 
original  earthen  image  was  replaced  by  a  statue  of  gold  and 
ivory,  the  work  of  the  Greek  artist  Apollonius,  after  the 
model  of  the  Olympian  Zeus. 

Before  proceeding  to  discuss  the  god  as  he  appears  in 
art,  we  must  take  a  glance  at  his  numerous  family.  The 
mythology  of  the  Greeks  stands  in  notorious  contrast  to 
that  of  the  Romans,  in  attributing  to  Zeus  a  great  number 
of  mortal  as  well  as  immortal  spouses,  and  an  unusually 
numerous  posterity.  Here  we  must  remark  that,  in  spite 
of  the  occasional  jokes  of  the  comic  poets  on  the  numer- 
ous amours  of  the  god,  and  the  consequent  jealousy  of 
Hera,  there  was  nothing  further  from  the  intention  of  the 
Greeks  than  to  represent  the  supreme  deity  of  heaven  as 
a  sensual  and  lascivious  being.  The  explanation  lies  part- 
ly in  the  great  number  of  contemporaneous  local  forms 
of  worship  that  existed  independently  of  each  other,  and 
partly  in  the  fact  that  the  lively  fancy  of  the  Greek  pict- 
ured every  new  production  under  the  guise  of  procreation. 
In  that  part  of  mythology  which  teaches  the  genealogy  of 
the  gods,  the  earliest  wife  of  Zeus  was  Metis  (prudence), 
the  daughter  of  Oceanus.  Zeus  devoured  her,  fearing  lest 
she  should  bear  a  son,  who  would  deprive  him  of  the  em- 
pire it  had  cost  him  so  much  to  attain.  It  was  soon  after 
this  that  he  produced  Pallas  Athene  from  his  own  head 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  31 

His  second  goddess-wife  was  Themis,  one  of  the  Titans,  by 
whom  he  became  the  father  of  the  Horse  and  the  Moerse 
(Fates).  Dione  appears  as  the  wife  of  Zeus  of  Dodona, 
and  the  mother  of  Aphrodite;  while  Arcadian  Zeus  was 
wedded  to  Maia,  by  whom  he  had  Hermes.  By  Demeter 
(Ceres)  he  became  the  father  of  Persephone  (Proserpine, 
goddess  of  vegetation) ;  by  Eurynome,  a  daughter  of 
Oceanus,  of  the  Charites  (Graces) ;  by  Mnemosyne,  of  the 
Muses;  by  Leto  (Latona),  of  Apollo  and  Artemis.  The 
youngest  of  all  his  divine  wives,  who  was  recognized  by 
later  mythology  as  his  only  legitimate  queen,  was  his  sis- 
ter Hera.  By  her  he  became  the  father  of  Ares  (Mars), 
Hephaestus  (Vulcan),  and  Hebe. 

Among  his  mortal  mistresses  the  most  celebrated  is  Se- 
mele,  the  daughter  of  Cadmus,  King  of  Thebes,  and  mother 
of  Dionysus.  The  others — Leda,  Danae,  Alcmene,  Europe, 
and  lo — will  be  mentioned  hereafter. 

The  mythology  of  the  Romans,  as  we  have  already  re- 
marked, first  depicted  Jupiter  as  devoid  of  all  family  ties. 
It  was  only  after  their  religion  had  been  Hellenized  that 
men  termed  him  the  son  of  Saturn  and  Ops,  made  Juno 
his  wife  and  Minerva  his  daughter. 

Statues  of  Zeus  were  necessarily  very  numerous,  both  from  the 
great  extent  of  his  worship  and  the  great  number  of  his  temples  that 
existed  in  Greece.  Of  all  these  the  most  renowned  was  the  magnifi- 
cent statue  of  Zeus  at  Olympia,  the  work  of  the  Athenian  sculptor 
Thidias  (500-432  B.C.).  The  figure  was  seated  on  a  lofty  throne,  and 
was  more  than  40  feet  high.  It  was  made  of  gold  and  ivory,  or  more 
probably  a  statue  of  wood  was  overlaid  with  plates  of  ivory  and  gold. 
The  uncovered  parts  —  the  face,  throat,  breast,  and  hands  —  were  of 
ivory.  In  his  right  hand  was  a  figure  of  Victory,  also  of  gold  and 
ivory ;  in  his  left  was  a  royal  sceptre,  on  the  top  of  which  perched  an 
eagle.  The  numerous  lengthy  descriptions  that  exist  can  give  us  but 
a  faint  idea  of  the  lofty  majesty  that  the  sculptor  diffused  over  the 


Fig.  3.— Zeus  of  Otricoli.    Vatican  Mnsetua 


Fig.  4 — Jupiter  Veroepi.    Vatican  Museum. 
3 


84  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

countenance  of  the  god.  The  object  of  Phidias  was  to  represent  him 
to  mankind,  not  only  as  the  omnipotent  ruler  of  Olympus,  far  superior 
to  all  gods  and  men,  both  in  power  and  wisdom,  but  also  as  the  gra- 
cious father  of  all,  and  the  kindly  dispenser  of  all  good  gifts.  The 


Pig.  5.— Coins  of  Elis  with  Phidias's  Zeus.    (After  Overbeck.) 

hair,  which  rose  straight  from  the  brow,  and  then  fell  in  equal  divis- 
ions on  either  side,  imparted  to  the  face  a  lion-like  expression  of  con- 
scious power.  This  was  rendered  still  more  effective  by  the  high 
forehead  and  strongly  formed  nose.  At  the  same  tune,  the  expres- 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  35 

sion  of  the  slightly  opened  lips  lent  an  idea  of  kindly  benevolence. 
The  story  goes  that  Phidias,  after  completing  the  statue,  prayed  of 
the  god  a  sign  that  he  was  well  pleased  with  his  work.  Zeus  there- 
upon caused  a  flash  of  lightning  to  descend  through  the  open  roof 
of  the  temple,  and  thus  acknowledged  his  own  image. 

This  sublime  masterpiece  of  Phidias,  which  was  reckoned  among 
the  seven  wonders  of  the  world,  continued  in  existence,  though  not 
without  injury,  for  upward  of  800  years.  It  appears  to  have  been 
destroyed  by  fire  in  the  time  of  Theodosius  III. 

The  following  are  the  most  important  of  the  existing  statues  of 
Zeus  by  Greek  and  Roman  sculptors :  The  first  in  point  of  artistic 
worth  is  a  bust  of  Zeus,  in  Carrara  marble  —  now  in  the  Vatican 
Museum  at  Rome  —  which  was  discovered  in  the  last  century  at 
Otricoli  (Fig.  3).  The  union  of  serene  majesty  and  benevolence  is 
the  chief  feature  in  the  sublime  countenance.  Next  comes  a  colos- 
sal statue  in  marble,  known  as  the  Jupiter  of  Verospi,  also  in  the 
Vatican  Museum  (Fig.  4).  Lastly,  there  is  a  bust  of  Zeus,  discovered 
at  Pompeii,  and  now  in  the  Museum  at  Naples,  besides  an  equally 
beautiful  bronze  statue  in  the  British  Museum,  found  at  Paramythia, 
in  Epirus.  On  comparing  all  the  extant  art  monuments  of  Zeus,  we 
may  gather  that  the  object  of  ancient  art  was  to  present  him  es- 
pecially as  the  benign  ruler  of  the  universe,  sitting  enthroned  in  con- 
scious majesty  and  blissful  ease  on  the  heights  of  Olympus.  His  char- 
acteristic features  are  the  clustering  hair,  falling  like  a  mane  on 
either  side  of  his  fine  arched  brow,  and  the  rich  wavy  beard.  Hia 
attributes  consist  of  the  sceptre,  as  a  symbol  of  his  sovereignty ;  the 
thunder -bolt;  the  eagle;  the  votive  bowl,  as  a  symbol  of  his  wor- 
ship ;  the  ball  beneath  or  near  his  seat,  as  a  symbol  of  the  universe  he 
rules ;  and,  lastly,  a  figure  of  Victory.  His  head  is  sometimes  adorn- 
ed with  a  garland  of  oak-leaves,  the  oak  being  sacred  to  him ;  and 
sometimes  with  an  olive-  branch  or  plain  band,  the  latter  being  a 
mark  of  sovereignty.  In  Fig.  5  we  give  an  engraving  of  two  coins 
of  Elis,  one  of  which  is  in  the  Florentine,  and  the  other  in  the  Paris 
Museum. 

2.  Hera  (Juno). — Hera,  according  to  Homer,  was  the 
eldest  of  the  daughters  of  Cronus  and  Rhea.  She  is  the 
feminine  counterpart  of  Zeus,  her  brother  and  husband. 
She  represents  the  air  or  atmosphere  ;  for  which  reason 
she,  like  Zeus,  was  supposed  to  control  the  phenomena  of 


36  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

the  air  and  sky,  and,  as  queen  of  heaven,  shared  with  him 
all  the  honors  of  his  position.  Her  conjugal  relations  to 
Zeus,  which  form  the  substance  of  all  the  myths  that  refer 
to  her,  afforded  the  poets  a  rich  and  productive  material 
for  serious  and  sportive  poetry.  They  sung  of  the  solemn 
marriage  of  Zeus  and  Hera,  the  remembrance  of  which  was 
celebrated  at  spring-tide  with  festive  offerings  and  marriage 
rites  before  the  shrine  of  the  goddess.  Neither  did  they 
fail  to  tell  of  the  conjugal  strife  of  the  royal  pair,  and  of 
the  cruel  fate  which  overtook  the  mortal  women  who  en- 
joyed the  favors  of  Zeus.  It  was  thus  that  jealousy  and 
contention  became  the  leading  features  in  the  character  of 
the  goddess ;  whereas,  both  in  her  worship  and  in  the  rep- 
resentations of  artists,  she  appears  as  a  gracious  and  kindly 
deity,  the  especial  protectress  of  her  own  sex. 

The  natural  signification  of  Hera  appears  to  have  quick 
ly  disappeared  among  the  Greeks,  and  she  seems  to  have 
been  chiefly  honored  as  the  guardian  of  the  marriage  tie. 
The  nobleness  of  the  woman  who  preserves  inviolate  the 
sanctity  of  this  bond  finds  in  her  its  most  sublime  expres- 
sion. As  the  special  patroness  of  marriage,  she  was  sup- 
posed to  watch  over  its  sanctity,  to  vouchsafe  the  blessing 
of  children,  and  to  protect  women  in  childbirth. 

The  worship  of  Hera  was  originally  not  very  extensive. 
The  cradle  of  her  worship  was  Argos,  on  which  account 
she  is  often  termed  Argive.  Argos,  Mycenae,  and  Sparta 
are  pointed  out  in  the  time  of  Homer  as  her  favorite  towns. 
Her  worship  naturally  extended  as  her  new  character  of 
goddess  of  marriage  became  more  prominent.  In  Boeotia 
and  Eubcea  her  worship  was  very  ancient,  but  her  chief 
shrine  was  the  Herseum,  between  Argos  and  MycenaB. 
Here  was  a  most  magnificent  statue  of  the  goddess,  made 


Fig.  6.— Barberini  Juno.    Vatican  Museum. 


Fig.  7 — Head  of  Hera,  perhaps  after  Polycletus.    Naples. 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  39 

of  ivory  and  gold,  the  work  of  the  Sicyonian  artist,  Poly- 
cletus.* 

Juno  (properly  Jovino)  takes  the  same  place  as  goddess 
of  childbirth  and  patroness  of  marriage  among  the  Ro- 
mans as  Hera  did  among  the  Greeks.  In  addition  to  this 
she  was  venerated,  under  the  name  of  Juno  Regina,  as  the 
tutelary  deity  of  the  city  and  empire  of  Rome.  Her  chief 
shrine  was  on  the  Capitol,  where  she  had  a  separate  chapel 
in  the  Temple  of  Jupiter.  The  Matronalia,  the  chief  festi- 
val of  the  goddess,  was  celebrated  on  the  first  day  of  March, 
when  all  the  matrons  of  the  city  marched  in  procession  to 
her  temple  on  the  Esquiline,  and  there  offered  her  flowers 
and  libations.  The  victims  usually  sacrificed  to  Juno  were 
young  heifers;  her  sacred  birds  were  the  goose  and  the 
crow,  to  which  the  peacock  of  the  Greek  Hera  was  after- 
ward added. 

The  most  celebrated  of  the  art  monuments  that  relate  to  Juno  is 
the  Juno  Ludovisi,  a  colossal  marble  bust  of  remarkable  beauty,  which, 
thanks  to  casts  and  photographs,  is  tolerably  well  known.  Her  lofty 
and  commanding  countenance  is  the  ideal  of  perfect  womanly  beauty, 
combining  in  a  rare  degree  woman's  chief  ornaments  —  dignity  and 
grace. 

After  this  comes  the  Juno  Barberini  of  the  Vatican  Museum,  an 
entire  and  upright  figure  of  great  size  (Fig.  6),  distinguished  by  the 
admirable  draping  of  the  garments.  The  Farnese  Juno,  now  in  the 
Naples  Museum,  also  deserves  mention.  In  the  same  museum  there 
is  a  singularly  beautiful  head  of  Hera,  which  perhaps  lays  claim  to 
reflect  the  conception  of  Polycletus.  We  give  an  engraving  of  this 
also  (Fig.  7). 

The  characteristic  features  of  Juno  are  a  somewhat  prominent 
chin,  expressing  unbending  determination  of  will,  somewhat  curling 
lips,  well-defined  nostrils,  large  full  eyes,  and  a  high  and  noble  fore- 

*  Polycletus,  a  native  of  Sicyon,  was  a  sculptor,  architect,  and  cast- 
er in  bronze.  He  was  a  contemporary  of  Phidias,  and,  next  to  him, 
the  most  celebrated  artist  of  antiquity. 


40  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY 

head.  The  attributes  of  the  goddess  consist  of  the  sceptre  and  dia- 
dem, significant  of  her  power ;  the  veil  (often  omitted  in  the  statues 
of  later  artists),  as  a  symbol  of  the  married  woman ;  the  votive  bowl 
hi  the  hand,  the  pomegranate  as  a  symbol  of  love,  and  the  peacock 
or  goose  at  her  feet,  also  at  times  the  cuckoo,  as  herald  of  spring. 

3.  Pallas  Athene  (Minerva). — The  accounts  which 
the  Greeks  gave  of  the  birth  of  Pallas  vary  considerably. 
The  most  common  is  that  which  has  been  already  mention- 
ed. According  to  this,  Zeus  produced  her  from  his  head, 
which  he  had  ordered  Hephaestus  to  cleave  open.  The 
great  goddess  of  war,  in  full  armor,  with  poised  spear,  then 
sprung  forth  from  her  fathers  head,  chanting  a  war-song, 
while  a  mighty  commotion  both  on  sea  and  land  announced 
the  great  event  to  the  world.  In  her  physical  character  Pal- 
las appears  as  the  goddess  of  the  pure  bright  ether,  in  which 
the  ancients  saw  the  highest  force  of  nature.  She  is  there- 
fore closely  related  to  her  father  Zeus,  as  the  dispenser  of 
light  and  life  in  nature,  and  of  earthly  blessings.  Looked 
at  from  her  ethical  side,  she  appears  as  the  goddess  of  wis- 
dom, a  reflection  and  personification  of  that  profound  wis- 
dom and  sagacity  with  which  Father  Zeus  controls  the  des- 
tinies of  the  world.  Hence  we  may  easily  gather  the  other 
features  of  her  character.  She  is,  in  the  first  place,  the 
protectress  of  states ;  and  all  that  their  welfare  requires  in 
peace  or  war  proceeds  from  her.  Thus  she  appears  as  god- 
dess of  peace  as  well  as  war.  In  the  latter  capacity  she 
accompanies  the  army  on  its  march,  inspires  the  soldiers 
with  ardor  for  the  fray,  and  rewards  them  with  victory  and 
rich  spoils ;  she  also  affords  her  mighty  protection  to  towns 
and  cities  at  home.  In  Homer  she  figures,  besides,  as  the 
kindly  guide  and  protectress  of  individual  heroes,  such  as 
Odysseus,  Achilles,  Diomedes.  It  was  she  who  first  taught 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  41 

mankind  to  manage  the  horse  and  to  build  ships  and  char-  V" 
lots;   she  also  invented  the  war -trumpet  and  flute.      As 
goddess  of  war  she  usually  wears,  besides  helmet,  shield, 
and  spear,  the  dreadful  aegis.    The  latter,  in  art  monuments, 
is  represented  as  a  breastplate  covered  with  dragon's  scales, 
and  surrounded  with  serpents,  in  the  midst  of  which  is  the 
dreadful  head  of  Medusa,  which  has  the  effect  of  turning    ' 
every  one  that  looks  on  it  into  stone. 

As  goddess  of  peace,  Athene  is  equally  lavish  in  bless- 
ing. Everything  necessary,  either  to  the  physical  or  intel- 
lectual welfare  of  mankind,  was  believed  to  proceed  from 
her,  and  to  be  subject  to  her  influence.  Accordingly,  use- 
ful inventions  of  all  kinds  are  ascribed  to  her.  It  was  she 
who  first  gave  men  the  rake  and  the  plough ;  it  was  she 
who  invented  the  distaff  and  loom,  as  well  as  the  art  of 
dyeing  woven  stuffs,  and  many  other  feminine  accomplish- 
ments. 

By  later  writers  this  skill  in  art  is  extended  to  other 
things,  and  she  is  represented  as  the  patroness  of  every 
branch  of  science,  art,  and  manufacture. 

She  is  also  called  Athene  Hygiea,  because  she  was  be- 
lieved to  send  pure  atmosphere,  to  ward  off  pestilence,  and 
to  promote  the  growth  and  health  of  the  youth  of  the  land. 

We  cannot  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  worship  of  a  god- 
dess so  benevolent,  and  exercising  such  an  important  in- 
fluence on  human  life,  was  very  extensive  in  Greece.  No- 
where did  she  receive  a  higher  degree  of  veneration  than 
at  Athens,  of  which  city  she  was  really  the  tutelary  deity. 
Her  most  important  shrine  was  the  Parthenon  (temple  of 
the  virgin  goddess),  which  was  erected  by  Pericles  on  the 
Acropolis,  and  the  remains  of  which,  even  in  the  present 
day,  excite  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  the  world.  The 


42          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

whole  land  of  Attica  was,  indeed,  in  a  certain  measure,  the 
peculiar  property  of  the  goddess,  which  she  won  after  her 
well-known  contest  with  Poseidon.  Zeus  had  decreed  the 
sovereignty  over  Attica  to  that  deity  who  should  bestow 
on  the  land  the  most  useful  present.  Poseidon  thereupon 
created  the  horse;  tut  Athene  caused  the  olive-tree  to 
grow,  and  was  thus  held  to  have  won  the  victory.  The 
sacred  olive-tree,  which  was  thus  called  into  existence,  was 
shown  in  the  Temple  of  Erechtheus  on  the  Acropolis,  and 
possessed  such  a  wonderful  vitality  that,  when  the  Per- 
sian burned  it  after  capturing  the  town,  it  immediately 
put  forth  a  fresh  shoot.  Argos  and  Corinth  were  also 
renowned  seats  of  the  worship  of  Pallas  Athene ;  and  she 
also  enjoyed  the  highest  veneration  in  Sparta,  Bosotia, 
Thessaly,  Arcadia,  and  Rhodes. 

The  Roman  Minerva  was  Hellenized  at  a  very  early  pe- 
riod, and  identified  with  the  Greek  Pallas.  In  Rome,  how- 
ever, the  warlike  character  of  the  goddess  was  completely 
merged  in  that  of  the  peaceful  inventress  and  patroness  of 
the  arts  and  sciences,  and  of  all  handiwork  of  women.  She 
was  here  worshipped,  in  company  with  Jupiter  and  Juno, 
as  the  tutelary  deity  of  the  city  and  empire,  and  has,  in 
consequence,  her  own  shrine  in  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  Cap- 
itolinus.  She  also  had  temples  on  the  Aventine  and  Coe- 
lian  hills,  to  which  a  third  was  added  by  Pompey,  in  61 
B.C.,  in  the  Campus  Martins. 

Festivals  of  the  Goddess. — The  Panathensea,  the  chief 
festival  of  the  Greek  Pallas,  were  celebrated  with  great 
pomp  every  four  years.  A  solemn  procession  passed 
through  the  streets  of  Athens  up  to  the  Acropolis ;  and 
an  offering  was  made  to  the  goddess  in  the  shape  of  a 
costly  garment  (peplus),  artistically  embroidered  by  the 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  43 

Athenian  maidens.  Horse-races,  athletic  and  musical  con- 
tests, took  place  at  the  same  time.  Another  festival  of 
less  importance,  called  the  Lesser  Panathensea,  was  cele- 
brated every  year  at  Athens  in  honor  of  the  goddess. 

At  Rome  the  chief  festival  of  Minerva,  the  Quinquatrus 
Majores,  was  held  on  the  19th  of  March,  and  was,  in  later 
times,  extended  to  five  days.  It  was  especially  observed 
by  all  engaged  in  intellectual  pursuits,  and  by  artists  and 
artisans.  As  Minerva  was  also  patroness  of  schools,  the 
school-boys  also  took  part  in  the  celebration,  and  enjoyed 
a  welcome  holiday. 

The  virgin  goddess  was  at  all  times  a  favorite  subject  with  ancient 
art.  Even  in  the  earliest  times,  before  casting  in  bronze  or  marble 
sculpture  was  known,  while  the  images  of  the  gods  were  as  yet  rude- 
ly carved  in  wood,  Pallas  was  a  frequent  subject  of  delineation. 
These  wooden  images  usually  represented  the  goddess  as  standing 
upright  with  poised  spear  in  front  of  the  battle,  and  were  then  called 
Palladia.  Men  delighted  to  believe  them  to  have  fallen  from  heaven, 
and  to  be  a  sure  means  of  protection  against  hostile  attack.  When 
Greek  art  was  in  its  prime,  the  first  masters  vied  with  each  other  in 
the  representation  of  the  goddess.  Phidias  outdid  them  all  in  his  re- 
nowned statue  of  Athene  Parthenos,  which  stood  in  the  temple  on  the 
Acropolis.  The  figure  was  thirty-nine  feet  high,  and  was  construct- 
ed of  ivory  and  gold.  Its  majestic  beauty  naturally  formed  one  of 
the  chief  attractions  of  the  magnificent  temple.  It  disappeared,  with- 
out leaving  any  clue  behind  it,  during  the  stormy  period  of  the  inva- 
sion of  the  nomadic  tribes.  In  proceeding  to  give  an  account  of  the 
most  important  existing  statues  of  the  goddess,  we  must  first  mention 
a  magnificent  marble  bust  which  King  Ludwig  I.  of  Bavaria  procured 
for  the  Munich  collection,  and  which  was  formerly  in  the  Villa  Alba- 
ni  at  Rome.  The  goddess  here  wears  a  tight-fitting  helmet,  the  top 
of  which  is  decorated  with  a  serpent,  the  emblem  of  wisdom.  Her 
breastplate,  which  is  bordered  with  serpents,  falls  like  a  cape  over 
her  shoulders,  and  is  fastened  in  the  middle  by  the  Gorgon's  head,  a 
terrible  but  striking  contrast  to  the  pure  and  noble  countenance  of 
the  goddess.  A  fine  bust,  with  a  delicate  and  youthful  expression  of 
countenance,  is  preserved  in  the  Vatican  Museum  at  Rome. 


Fig.  8.— Pallas  Qiustiniani.    Vatican. 


Fig.  9.— Athene  Polias.    Villa  AlbauL 


46 


GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 


Another,  not  less  beautiful,  but  with  grave  and  almost  masculine 
features,  was  discovered  in  the  excavations  of  Pompeii,  and  is  now  in 
the  Naples  Museum. 

Among  existing  (full-length)  statues,  the  Pallas  Giustiniani,  of  the 
Vatican  Museum  at  Rome,  is  held  to  be  the  finest  (Fig.  8).  This 
probably  once  stood  in  a  Roman  temple,  having  been  found  in  a  place 


Fig.  10. — Pallas  Athene.    Naples. 

where  there  was  formerly  a  temple  of  Minerva.  This  statue,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  Roman  conception,  bears  a  more  peaceable  charac- 
ter, although  neither  the  spear  nor  helmet  is  wanting.  Next  come 
two  statues  found  near  Velletri,  one  of  which  is  in  the  Capitolinc  Mu- 
seum at  Rome,  while  the  other  forms  a  chief  ornament  of  the  Louvre 
collection  in  Paris.  Both  represent  the  goddess  in  the  character  of 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  47 

a  benign  deity  fostering  all  peaceful  works,  with  a  gentle  but  earnest 
expression  of  countenance. 

The  Farnese  Minerva  of  the  Naples  Museum  and  the  "  Hope  "  copy 
in  London  betray  similar  characteristics.  On  the  other  hand,  in  a 
statue  discovered  at  Herculaneum  (now  at  Naples),  Minerva  appears 
as  a  warlike  goddess,  in  an  evidently  hostile  attitude  (Fig.  10).  This 
is  also  the  case  with  the  celebrated  statue  at  the  Louvre,  which,  on 
account  of  the  necklace  worn  by  the  goddess,  is  generally  called 
Minerve  au  Collier;  and  again  in  a  statue  of  the  Villa  Albani,  in 
which  a  lion's  skin  thrown  over  the  head  takes  the  place  of  the  hel- 
met (Fig.  9). 

On  combining  the  characteristic  features  of  Minerva,  we  may  gath- 
er that  her  most  prominent  trait  is  a  lofty  seriousness,  well  befitting 
the  chaste,  grave  character  of  the  virgin  goddess.  The  closed  lips 
and  the  prominent  chin  betray  a  determined  and  resolute  disposition, 
while  her  mien  and  bearing  give  token  of  strength  and  dignity. 

Among  the  favorite  animals  of  Minerva  we  may  mention  the  ser- 
pent, the  owl,  and  the  cock.  The  first  is  a  symbol  of  wisdom,  the 
second  of  profound  meditation,  and  the  last  of  eager  desire  for  the 
fray.  The  attributes  of  Minerva  consist  of  the  aegis  (which  serves  as 
a  shield)  the  spear,  and  the  helmet.  The  helmet  is  sometimes  adorn- 
ed with  the  figures  of  griffins,  significant  of  the  overpowering  might 
of  the  wearer.  The  statues  are  all  fully  clcthed,  in  accordance  with 
the  chaste  character  of  the  goddess. 

4.  Apollo.  —  As  Athene  is  the  favorite  daughter  of 
Zeus,  so  Apollo  ranks  as  the  most  glorious  and  beautiful 
of  his  sons.  Like  other  sons  of  Zeus,  he  is  a  god  of  light, 
and,  indeed,  the  purest  and  highest  representative  of  this 
mighty  power  in  nature.  His  mother,  Leto  (Latona),  is  a 
representative  of  the  darkness  of  the  night.  According  to 
the  sacred  legend,  she  was  compelled  when  pregnant  to 
wander  about,  because  mankind,  dreading  the  appearance 
of  the  mighty  god,  refused  to  receive  her.  This  myth  was 
afterward  altered  by  later  writers,  who  assign  the  jealousy 
of  Hera  as  the  cause  of  her  wanderings.  Leto  at  length 
found  a  refuge  on  Delos,  which  was  once  a  floating  island,  *~ 


48  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

and  had  to  be  fastened  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea  by  means 
of  lofty  columns.  As  the  bright  god  of  heaven,  to  whom 
everything  impure  and  unholy  is  hateful,  we  find  Apollo, 
soon  after  his  birth,  preparing  to  do  battle  with  the  evil 
powers  of  darkness.  With  his  arrows  he  slew  both  the 
giant  Tityus  and  the  serpent  Python,  the  latter  a  monster 
that  inhabited  the  valley  of  the  Plistus,  near  Delphi,  and 
destroyed  both  men  and  cattle.  These  and  similar  myths 
are  merely  a  panegyric  on  the  conquering  power  exercised 
by  the  genial  warmth  of  spring  over  the  dark  gloom  of 
winter. 

But  though  Apollo  thus  appears  as  the  foe  of  all  that  is 
evil  and  impure,  ancient  myths,  nevertheless,  represent  him 
also  as  a  terrible  god  of  death,  sending  virulent  pestilences 
and  dealing  out  destruction  to  men  and  animals  by  means 
of  his  unerring  arrows.  This  may  be  easily  explained,  how- 
ever, by  glancing  at  the  natural  signification  of  the  god. 
The  rays  of  the  sun  do  indeed  put  to  flight  the  cold  of 
winter,  but  as  their  heat  increases  they  themselves  ultimate- 
ly become  the  cause  of  disease  and  death.  This  is  beauti- 
fully portrayed  in  the  fable  of  the  death  of  Hyacinthus. 

To  proceed  further  in  the  analysis  of  his  character  as 
god  of  light,  Apollo  next  appears  as  the  protector  of  streets 
and  houses.  A  conical  pillar  was  usually  erected  at  the 
side  of  the  doors  of  houses  as  a  symbol  of  him,  and  a  de- 
fence against  all  sorceries.  Connected  with  this  is  his  re- 
pute as  a  god  of  health ;  one  who  is  indeed  able  to  send 
disease  and  death,  but  who,  on  the  other  hand,  is  all-pow- 
erful to  protect  against  physical  maladies.  This  feature  in 
his  character,  however,  is  more  extensively  developed  in  the 
person  of  his  son,  Asclepius  (^Esculapius).  But  it  is  not 
only  outward  ills  that  this  wonder-working  deity  can  cure : 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  49 

as  the  true  redeemer  from  sin  and  crime,  lie  alone  can  af- 
ford consolation  to  guilty  souls.  Even  those  pursued  by 
the  Furies  he  sometimes  receives  in  tenderness  and  pity,  a 
fine  instance  of  which  is  found  in  the  story  of  Orestes.  It 
is  here  that  we  must  seek  the  explanation  of  his  character  as 
god  of  music ;  in  the  fact  that  it  exercises  so  soothing  and 
tranquillizing  an  influence  on  the  soul  of  man.  His  favor- 
ite instrument  was  the  lyre,  which  he  was  wont  to  play 
with  masterly  skill  at  the  banquets  of  the  gods,  while  the 
Muses  accompanied  him  with  their  wondrous  strains.  Apol- 
lo was  therefore  regarded  as  the  leader  of  the  Muses  (Mu- 
sagetes) ;  and  all  the  great  singers  of  antiquity,  such  as 
Orpheus  and  Linus,  are  mythically  represented  as  his  sons. 
But  Apollo  attained  his  greatest  importance  among  the 
Greeks  as  god  of  prophecy.  His  oracles  continued  to  ex- 
ercise an  important  influence  on  social  and  political  life, 
even  down  to  the  latest  times.  The  inspiration  of  Apollo 
was  distinguished  by  the  fact  that  the'  god  revealed  the 
future  less  by  means  of  outward  signs  than  by  inducing  an 
ecstatic  condition  of  mind  bordering  on  madness  in  those 
persons  through  whom  he  wished  to  proclaim  his  oracles. 
These  were  generally  women  and  maidens,  who,  either  at 
oracular  shrines  proper,  or  dwelling  alone  as  Sibyls,  gave 
forth  the  responses  of  the  god.  In  early  times  they  were 
somewhat  numerous.  There  was  an  oracle  at  Clarus,.  near 
Colophon  ;  an  oracle  at  Didyma,  near  Miletus ;  and  an  ora- 
cle on  the  Ismenus,  near  Thebes.  These  were  eventually 
all  thrown  into  the  shade  by  that  of  Delphi.  The  responses 
of  this  oracle  exercised,  during  a  long  period  of  Grecian 
history,  an  all-powerful  influence,  especially  on  the  Dorian 
tribes.  The  convulsions  of  the  Pythia,  or  priestess  of 
Apollo,  were  brought  about,  partly  by  the  chewing  of  lau- 

4 


50  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

rel  leaves,  and  partly  by  the  gaseous  vapors  that  issued  * 
from  a  cleft  in  the  earth  beneath  the  sacred  tripod.  The 
ecstatic  condition  in  which  she  gave  the  responses,  which 
were  comprehensible  only  to  the  initiated  priests,  manifest- 
ed itself  in  a  foaming  at  the  mouth  and  in  convulsions  of 
the  body. 

Delphi  naturally  became  the  chief  seat  of  the  worship 
of  Apollo.  The  gorgeous  temple  was  rebuilt  in  the  time 
of  the  Pisistratida3,  after  the  destruction  of  the  old  one 
by  fire.  Its  wealth  from  offerings  became  so  great  that 
their  value  was  computed  at  10,000  talents  (more  than 
£2,000,000).  In  the  neighborhood  of  Delphi  the  Pythian 
games  were  celebrated  in  the  third  year  of  every  Olym- 
piad. 

The  shrine  of  the  god  at  Delos,  his  birthplace,  was  lit- 
tle less  renowned.  The  sanctuary  itself  was  situated  at  the 
foot  of  Mount  Cynthus;  but  the  whole  island  was  sacred 
to  the  god,  for  which  reason  no  one  was  buried  there. 
Here,  too,  games,  said  to  have  been  instituted  by  Theseus, 
were  celebrated  every  four  years  in  honor  of  the  god. 
Apollo  had,  besides,  a  great  number  of  less  celebrated 
shrines  and  temples,  not  only  in  Greece,  but  also  in  Asia 
Minor,  and  wherever  the  Greek  colonies  extended. 

The  Apollo  of  the  Romans,  as  his  name  indicates,  was 
transferred  to  Rome  from  Greece.  At  a  comparatively 
early  period  men  began  to  feel  the  want  of  a  prophetic 
deity,  as  the  Roman  gods,  although  they  vouchsafed  hints 
as  to  the  future,  confined  their  responses  to  a  mere  Yea  or 
Nay.  Moreover,  in  the  character  of  god  of  healing,  he  was 
early  admitted  into  the  Roman  system,  as  we  gather  from 
the  fact  that  the  first  temple  really  dedicated  to  Apollo 
was  erected  in  429  B.C.,  under  the  pressure  of  a  grievous 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  51 

pestilence.  The  worship  of  Apollo  was  especially  exalted 
by  the  Emperor  Augustus,  who  ascribed  his  victory  at 
Actium  chiefly  to  the  assistance  of  the  god.  He  accord- 
ingly erected  a  magnificent  temple  to  Apollo  on  the  Pala- 
tine, which  was  embellished  with  the  celebrated  statue  of 
Apollo  Citharoedus,  by  Scopas. 

This  remark  leads  us  to  contemplate  the  different  statues  of  the 
god.  Apollo  constantly  bears  a  very  youthful  appearance,  and  is 
always  beardless.  His  figure  is  strong  and  handsome,  his  head  cov- 
ered with  fair  clustering  locks,  and  his  face  expressive  of  majesty, 
but  marked  withal  by  a  cheerful  serenity.  Such  is  the  original  and 
fundamental  type,  which  was  usually  followed  in  the  representation 
of  the  god.  It  was  principally  developed  by  Scopas  and  Praxiteles, 
who  belonged  to  the  later  Attic  school,  which  nourished  from  the  end 
of  the  Peloponnesian  war  to  the  reign  of  Alexander  the  Great.  The 
principal  creation  of  Scopas  was  a  marble  statue,  representing  the- 
god  as  a  Pythian  Citharoedus  with  the  lyre  in  his  hand,  clothed  in  a 
long  robe  reaching  to  the  feet. 

This  invaluable  work  was  procured  by  Augustus  for  the  temple  he 
erected  to  Apollo  on  the  Palatine.  Praxiteles,  a  younger  contempo- 
rary of  Scopas,  acquired  considerable  renown  by  his  bronze  figure  of 
a  youthful  Apollo  pursuing  a  lizard  (Apollo  Sauroctonus). 

In  existing  art  monuments  sometimes  the  conception  of  a  warlike, 
vengeful  deity  obtains,  in  which  case  the  god  is  represented  as  nude, 
or  nearly  so,  and  armed  with  quiver  and  bow.  At  other  times  ho 
wears  a  mild  and  benevolent  aspect ;  he  is  then  distinguished  by  his 
lute,  and  completely  enveloped  in  a  chlamys.  Of  the  former  kind 
is  the  most  beautiful  and  celebrated  of  all  his  existing  statues,  the 
Apollo  Belvedere,  which  was  discovered  in  1503,  near  Nettuno,  the 
ancient  Antium,  and  is  now  in  the  Vatican.  The  proud  self -con- 
sciousness of  a  conquering  deity  is  inimitably  expressed  in  his  whole 
attitude.  He  stands  with  his  right  hand  and  leg  against  the  trunk 
of  a  tree,  his  left  arm  outstretched,  with  the  aagis,  probably  as  a  sym- 
bol of  fear  and  terror,  in  his  hand.  The  serpent  creeping  up  the 
tree  is  a  symbol  of  the  powers  of  darkness  vanquished  by  the  god 
(Fig.  11).  We  have  also  given  a  larger  engraving  of  the  hp.ad  of  the 
Belvedere  Apollo,  in  order  to  afford  a  clearer  idea  of  its  wondrous 
beauty  (Fig.  12). 


Fig.  11.— Apollo  Belvedere.    Vatican. 


Fig.  12.— Head  of  Apollo  Belvedere. 


54  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

The  so-called  Apollino,  of  the  Florence  Gallery,  a  youthful  figure 
resting  after  battle,  is  a  work  of  scarcely  less  beauty.  The  shape 
of  the  body,  which  is  entirely  nude,  is  wonderfully  soft  and  delicate. 
With  his  left  arm  the  god  leans  upon  a  tree ;  in  his  left  hand  he 
negligently  holds  the  bow,  while  his  right  hand  is  raised  to  his  head 
in  a  meditative  fashion.  The  Farnese  Apollo  of  the  Naples  Museum 
possesses  an  equally  graceful  form.  The  god  is  here  represented  as 
a  musician ;  in  his  left  hand  he  holds  the  lyre,  while  his  right  glides 
over  the  strings.  The  animated  expression  of  his  face,  indicating  his 
entire  devotion  to  his  art,  is  exquisitely  beautiful.  The  goose  at  his 
feet,  which  was  regarded  even  by  the  ancients  as  a  music-loving  bird, 
appears  to  drink  in  with  rapture  the  heavenly  tones. 

In  those  works  which  represent  the  god  as  a  Pythian  lute-player 
in  a  long  Ionian  garment,  we  perceive  an  almost  feminine  figure  and 
a  visionary  expression  of  face.  The  most  important  works  of  this 
kind  are  the  Apollo  Citharcedus  of  the  Munich  collection  (Fig.  13), 
formerly  called  the  Muse  of  Barberini,  which  is  marked  by  a  some- 
what quieter  attitude;  and  the  so-called  Apollo  Musagetes  of  the 
Vatican  collection,  which  is  characterized  by  a  lively  dancing  move- 
ment of  the  figure,  and  is  generally  regarded  as  an  imitation  of  the 
masterpiece  of  Scopas  already  mentioned.  A  pure  and  heavenly  in- 
spiration seems  to  pervade  the  features  of  the  laurel-crowned  god; 
his  mighty  lyre,  to  the  tones  of  which  he  appears  to  be  singing,  is 
suspended  from  a  band  across  the  chest,  and  is  aptly  adorned  with 
the  portrait  of  Marsyas,  his  vanquished  rival. 

Lastly,  the  graceful  statue  of  Apollo  Sauroctonus  (Lizard-slayer) 
deserves  mention.  Many  copies  of  it  still  exist,  the  chief  of  which  is 
a  marble  statue  in  the  Vatican  collection.  The  delicate  figure  of  the 
god,  midway  between  youth  and  boyhood,  leans  carelessly  against  the 
trunk  of  a  tree,  up  which  a  lizard  is  creeping.  The  god  is  eagerly 
watching  its  movements,  in  order  to  seize  a  favorable  moment  to  nail 
it  to  the  tree  with  his  arrow. 

The  principal  attributes  of  Apollo  are  the  bow,  arrows,  quiver, 
laurel  crown,  and  lyre.  To  these  may  be  added,  as  symbols  of  his 
prophetic  power,  the  tripod  and  the  omphalos  (navel),  the  latter 
being  a  representation  of  the  earth's  centre  in  the  temple  at  Delphi, 
on  which  he  is  often  depicted  as  sitting.  The  god  also  appears 
standing  on  the  omphalos ;  as  in  the  case  of  a  marble  statue  lately 
found  in  the  theatre  of  Dionysus.  His  sacred  animals  were  the  wolf, 
the  hind,  the  bat,  the  swan,  the  goose,  and  the  dolphin ;  the  three 
last  being  music-loving  creatures. 


Fig.  13.— Apollo  Citharcedus.    Munich. 


56  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

5.  Artemis  (Diana). — Artemis  is  the  feminine  coun- 
terpart of  her  twin  brother  Apollo,  with  whom  she  entire- 
ly harmonizes  when  regarded  from  her  physical  aspect. 
Like  him,  she  is  a  beautiful  and  propitious  deity ;  but  like 
him,  too,  she  can  deal  out,  at  times,  death  and  destruction 
among  mankind.  Like  Apollo,  she  promotes  the  growth 
of  the  young  plant,  and  is  equally  the  foe  of  all  that  is 
evil  and  impure.  Like  him,  she  is  skilled  in  the  use  of 
the  bow,  of  which  she  avails  herself,  however,  not  only  for 
the  destruction  of  monsters,  but  also  at  times  to  chastise 
the  insolence  of  man — witness  the  death  of  the  children  of 
Niobe.  Her  favorite  amusement  is  the  chase.  Armed  with 
quiver  and  bow,  she  ranges  mountain  and  valley,  accom- 
panied by  a  band  of  nymphs.  The  chase  ended,  she  de- 
lights to  bathe  in  some  fresh  spring,  or  to  lead  off  some 
favorite  dance  on  the  flowery  meadows,  surrounded  by  her 
nymphs,  all  of  whom  she  overtops  by  a  head.  Then  the 
heart  of  her  mother,  Leto,  rejoices  as  she  gazes  on  the  in- 
nocent sports  of  her  lovely  daughter. 

As  a  virgin  goddess  she  was  especially  venerated  by 
young  maidens,  whose  patroness  she  remained  till  their 
marriage,  and  to  whom  she  afforded  an  example  of  chas- 
tity. The  story  of  Actaeon,  who  was  changed  into  a  stag 
and  then  torn  to  pieces  by  his  own  dogs,  shows  that  she 
did  not  suffer  any  injury  to  her  virgin  modesty  to  go  un- 
punished. (For  this  story  see  the  Theban  legends.) 

Originally,  Artemis  appears  to  have  been  the  goddess  of 
the  moon,  just  as  her  brother  Apollo  is  unmistakably  iden- 
tical with  the  sun.  This  conception,  however,  continued 
to  grow  fainter  and  fainter,  until,  in  the  later  days  of  con- 
fusion of  religions,  it  was  again  revived.  Artemis  was  fre- 
quently confounded  with  Selene  or  Phoebe  (Luna). 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  57 

The  national  Artemis  of  the  Greeks  was  originally  quite 
distinct  from  the  Artemis  Orthia,  a  dark  and  cruel  deity, 
to  whom  human  sacrifices  Avere  offered  in  Laconia.  Ly- 
curgus  abolished  this  barbarous  custom,  but  caused  instead 
a  number  of  boys  to  be  cruelly  whipped  before  the  image 
of  the  goddess  on  the  occasion  of  her  annual  festival. 
This  is  the  same  Artemis  to  whom  Agamemnon  was  about 
to  offer,  in  Aulis,  his  daughter  Iphigenia,  previous  to  the 
departure  of  the  Greeks  for  Troy.  The  Scythians  in 
Tauris  likewise  had  a  goddess  whom  they  propitiated  with 
human  sacrifices.  This  caused  her  to  be  confounded  with 
Artemis  Orthia,  and  the  story  arose  that  Iphigenia  was 
conveyed  by  the  goddess  to  Tauris,  from  which  place  she 
subsequently,  assisted  by  her  brother  Orestes,  brought  the 
image  of  the  goddess  to  Greece. 

The  Ephesian  Artemis,  known  to  us  as  "Diana  of  the 
Ephesians,"  was  distinct  from  all  that  have  been  men- 
tioned. She  was,  in  fact,  an  Asiatic,  not  a  Hellenic  deity. 

The  Roman  Diana,  who  was  early  identified  with  the 
Greek  Artemis,  was  likewise  originally  a  goddess  of  the 
moon.  As  such,  she  possessed  a  very  ancient  shrine  on 
Mount  Algidus,  near  Tusculum.  Like  the  Greek  Artemis, 
she  was  also  regarded  as  the  tutelary  goddess  of  women, 
and  was  invoked  by  women  in  childbirth.  This  was  also 
the  case  with  Artemis,  although  the  matrons  of  Greece 
looked  for  more  protection  in  this  respect  at  the  hands  of 
Hera.  She  gained,  however,  a  certain  political  importance 
in  Rome  after  having  been  made  by  Servius  Tullius  the  tu- 
telary deity  of  the  Latin  League.  As  such,  she  possessed 
a  sacred  grove  and  temple  on  the  Aventine. 

Artemis  is  a  favorite  subject  with  the  masters  of  the  later  Attic 
school.  She  is  always  represented  as  youthful,  slender  and  light  of 


Fig.  14.— Diana  of  Versailles. 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  59 

foot,  and  without  womanly  fulness.  Her  devotion  to  the  chase  is 
clearly  betokened  by  the  quiver  and  bow  which  she  generally  bears, 
and  by  the  high  girt  robe  and  Cretan  shoes,  which  allow  her  to  pass 
unencumbered  through  the  thickets  of  the  forest. 

Among  existing  statues,  the  most  celebrated  is  the  so-called  Diana 
of  Versailles,  which  came  from  the  Villa  of  Hadrian,  at  Tibur  (Fig. 
14).  It  is  now  a  chief  ornament  of  the  Louvre  collection,  and  is  a 
worthy  companion  to  the  Belvedere  Apollo,  although  it  does  not  quite 
equal  this  in  beauty.  In  this  statue  the  goddess  does  not  appear  as 
a  huntress,  but  rather  as  the  protectress  of  wild  animals.  She  is 
conceived  as  having  just  come  to  the  rescue  of  a  hunted  deer,  and  is 
in  the  act  of  turning  with  angry  mien  on  the  pursuers.  With  her 
right  hand  she  grasps  an  arrow  from  the  quiver  that  hangs  at  her 
back,  and  in  her  left  she  holds  the  bow. 

A  really  beautiful  statue  of  the  Vatican  collection  depicts  the  god- 
dess in  a  most  striking  attitude.  She  has  just  sent  forth  her  deadly 
arrow,  and  is  eagerly  watching  its  effect.  The  hound  at  her  side  is 
just  about  to  start  in  eager  pursuit  of  the  mark,  which  was  evidently, 
therefore,  a  wild  animal.  In  her  left  hand  is  the  bow,  still  strung, 
from  which  her  right  hand  has  just  directed  the  arrow.  Her  foot  is 
likewise  upraised  in  triumph,  and  her  whole  deportment  expresses 
the  proud  joy  of  victory.  The  chief  attributes  of  Diana  are  bow, 
quiver,  and  spear,  and  also  a  torch,  as  an  emblem  of  her  power  to 
dispense  light  and  life.  The  hind,  the  dog,  the  bear,  and  the  wild- 
boar  were  esteemed  sacred  to  her. 

6.  Ares  (Mars). — Ares,  the  son  of  Zeus  and  Hera,  rep- 
resents war  from  its  fatal  and  destructive  side,  by  which 
he  is  clearly  distinguished  from  Athene,  the  wise  disposer 
of  battles.  He  was,  it  is  probable,  originally  a  personifi- 
cation of  the  angry  clouded  sky.  His  home,  according 
to  Homer,  was  in  Thrace,  the  land  of  boisterous,  wintry 
storms,  among  whose  warlike  inhabitants  he  was  held  in 
high  esteem,  although  his  worship  was  not  so  extensive  in 
Greece.  Homer,  in  the  "  Iliad,"  paints  in  particularly  lively 
colors  the  picture  of  the  rude  "  man-slaying  "  god  of  war. 
He  here  appears  as  a  deity  who  delights  only  in  the  wild 
din  of  battle,  and  is  never  weary  of  strife  and  slaughter. 


CO          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

Clad  in  brazen  armor  from  head  to  foot,  with  waving 
plume,  helmet,  and  high-poised  spear,  his  bull's-hide  shield 
on  his  left  arm,  he  ranges  the  battle-field,  casting  down  all 
before  him  in  his  impetuous  fury.  With  strength  he  com- 
bines great  agility,  and  is,  according  to  Homer,  the  fleetest 
of  the  gods.  Strong  though  he  be,  however,  he  is  over- 
matched in  battle  by  Athene ;  a  palpable  indication  that 
prudent  courage  often  accomplishes  more  than  impetuous 
violence. 

The  usual  attendants  and  servants  of  Ares  are  Fear  and 
Terror.  By  some  writers  they  are  described  as  his  sons, 
yet  in  Homer  they  fight  against  him.  There  is  little  to  be 
said  of  the  principal  seats  of  his  worship  in  Greece.  In 
Thebes  he  was  regarded  as  the  god  of  pestilence ;  and 
Aphrodite,  who  elsewhere  appears  as  the  wife  of  He- 
phaestus, was  given  him  to  wife.  By  her  he  became  the 
father  of  Harmonia,  who  married  Cadmus,  and  thus  became 
the  ancestress  of  the  Caduaean  race  in  Thebes.  Accord- 
ing to  an  Athenian  local  legend,  his  having  slain  a  son  of 
Poseidon  gave  rise  to  the  institution  of  the  Areopagus. 
He  was  here  regarded  as  the  god  of  vengeance.  A  cele- 
brated statue  by  Alcamenes  adorned  his  temple  at  Athens. 
Among  the  warlike  people  of  Sparta  the  worship  of  Ares 
was  also  extensive. 

This  deity  was  regarded  with  a  far  greater  degree  of 
veneration  in  Rome,  under  the  appellation  of  Mars,  01 
Mavors.  He  seems  to  have  occupied  an  important  posi- 
tion even  among  the  earliest  Italian  tribes.  It  was  not  as 
god  of  war,  however — for  which,  amidst  the  peaceful  pur- 
suits of  cattle  -  rearing  and  husbandry,  they  cared  little — 
but  as  the  god  of  the  spring  triumphing  over  the  powers  of 
winter,  that  he  was  worshipped.  It  was  from  his  bounty 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  61 

that  the  primitive  people  looked  for  the  prosperous  growth 
of  their  flocks  and  the  fruits  of  their  fields ;  it  was  Mars 
on  whom  they  called  for  protection  against  bad  weather 
and  destructive  pestilence. 

In  warlike  Rome,  however,  this  deity  soon  laid  aside  his 
peaceful  character,  and  donned  the  bright  armor  of  the 
god  of  war.  He  was  even  regarded  as  being,  after  Jupiter, 
the  most  important  god  of  the  state  and  people  of  Rome. 
Numa  himself  gave  him  a  flamen  of  his  own,  and  created 
or  restored  in  his  honor  the  priesthood  of  the  Salii.  The 
occasion,  according  to  the  sacred  legend,  was  on  this  wise. 
As  King  Numa  one  morning,  from  the  ancient  palace  at 
the  foot  of  the  Palatine,  raised  his  hands  in  prayer  to  Jove, 
beseeching  his  protection  and  favor  for  the  infant  state  of 
Rome,  the  god  let  fall  from  heaven,  as  a  mark  of  his  favor, 
an  oblong  brazen  shield  (ancile).  At  the  same  time  a  voice 
was  heard  declaring  that  Rome  should  endure  as  long  as 
this  shield  was  preserved.  Numa  then  caused  the  sacred 
shield,  which  was  recognized  as  that  of  Mars,  to  be  care- 
fully preserved.  The  better  to  prevent  its  abstraction,  he 
ordered  an  artist  to  make  eleven  others  exactly  similar, 
and  instituted  for  their  protection  the  college  of  the  Salii, 
twelve  in  number,  like  the  shields,  who  were  selected  from 
the  noblest  families  in  Rome.  Every  year  in  the  month 
of  March,  which  was  sacred  to  Mars,  they  bore  the  sacred 
shields  in  solemn  procession  through  the  streets  of  Rome, 
executing  warlike  dances  and  chanting  ancient  war-songs. 
From  the  days  of  Numa  the  worship  of  "Father  Mars" 
continued  to  acquire  an  ever-increasing  popularity.  Before 
the  departure  of  a  Roman  army  on  any  expedition,  the  im- 
perator  retired  to  the  sanctuary  of  the  god  in  the  old  pal- 
ace, and  there  touched  the  sacred  shields  and  the  spear  of 


62  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

the  statue  of  Mars,  crying  aloud  at  the  same  time,  "  Mars, 
watch  over  us !"  According  to  popular  belief,  the  god 
himself  went  unseen  before  the  host  as  it  marched  to  bat- 
tle, whence  he  was  called  "Gradivus."  In  the  war  with 
the  Lucanians  and  Bruttians  (282  B.C.),  when  the  consuls 
were  hesitating  whether  to  begin  the  attack,  an  unknown 
youth  of  extraordinary  stature  and  beauty  encouraged  the 
troops  to  begin  the  assault  on  the  enemy's  camp,  and  was 
himself  the  first  to  scale  the  wall.  When  he  was  afterward 
sought  for,  in  order  that  he  might  receive  his  richly  mer- 
ited reward,  he  had  disappeared,  leaving  no  trace  behind 
him.  As  it  could  have  been  none  other  than  Father  Mars, 
the  consul,  Fabricius,  decreed  him  a  thanksgiving  of  three 
days'  duration. 

Mars  naturally  received  a  due  share  of  all  booty  taken 
in  war.  Defeat  was  ascribed  to  his  wrath,  which  men  strove 
to  avert  by  extraordinary  sin-offerings. 

Popular  belief  made  Mars  the  father,  by  a  vestal  virgin, 
of  Romulus  and  Remus,  the  legendary  founders  of  the  city. 
His  wife  appears  to  have  been  Nerio ;  but  she  enjoyed  no 
honors  at  Rome. 

In  attendance  on  Mars  we  find  Metus  and  Pallor,  who 
answer  to  the  Greek  deities  already  mentioned;  and  also 
his  sister,  Bellona,  corresponding  to  the  Enyo,  who  was 
worshipped  in  Pontus  and  Cappadocia,  though  not  in  Greece 
proper.  Bellona  had  a  temple  in  the  Campus  Martius. 

The  Campus  Martius  (Field  of  Mars),  the  celebrated 
place  of  exercise  of  the  Roman  youth,  stretched  from  the 
Quirinal  Avestward  to  the  Tiber,  and  was  dedicated  to  the 
god  of  war.  Augustus,  after  the  overthrow  of  the  murder- 
ers of  Caesar,  his  adopted  father,  erected  a  temple  to  Mars, 
which  was  built  in  Greek  style,  and  far  surpassed  in  gran- 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS. 


63 


Fig.  15.— Mars  Lndovisi. 

deur  and  splendor  all  the  other  temples  of  the  god.  Three 
columns  of  it  are  still  standing,  mute  witnesses  of  vanished 
splendor.  A  large  number  of  religious  festivities  were  cel- 
ebrated in  the  month  of  March  in  honor  of  Mars.  The 
procession  of  the  Salii  formed  the  chief  feature  of  the  fes- 
tival ;  but  there  were  also  races  and  games.  On  the  Ides 


64 


GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 


of  October  also  a  chariot-race  took  place  in  honor  of  Mars? 
at  which  the  singular  custom  prevailed  of  offering  the  near 
horse  of  the  victorious  team  to  the  god.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  two  oldest  quarters  of  the  city  contended  for  the 
head  of  the  slaughtered  animal,  and  whoever  got  it  was 
supposed  to  reap  great  blessings  from  its  possession. 

Ancient  artists  represented  Mars  as  a  tall  and  powerful  young  man, 
whose  activity,  however,  is  as  apparent  as  his  strength.  His  char- 
acteristic features  are  short 
curly  hair,  small  eyes,  and 
broad  nostrils,  significant  of 
the  violence  and  passionate- 
ness  of  his  nature.  The  most 
celebrated  of  existing  statues 
is  the  Mars  Ludovisi  of  the 
Villa  Ludovisi,  at  Rome.  It 
has  often  been  conjectured 
that  this  is  an  imitation  of  the 
renowned  work  of  Scopas.  The 
deity  is  depicted  as  resting  af- 
ter battle ;  and,  in  spite  of  the 
usual  turbulence  of  his  dispo- 
sition, he  here  appears  to  have 
surrendered  himself  to  a  more 
gentle  frame  of  mind.  The 
little  god  of  love  crouching  at 
his  feet  gazes  into  his  face 
with  a  roguish,  triumphant 
smile,  as  though  rejoiced  to 
see  that  even  the  wildest  and 
most  untamable  must  submit 
to  his  sway,  and  thus  shows 
us  what  has  called  forth  this 
gentle  mood  (Fig.  IS).  The 
Mars  Ludovisi  is  an  original 
work,  Greek  in  its  origin, 
though  belonging  to  a  some- 
Fig.  lG.-Bust  ofAres.  Sculpture  Gallery  what  late  Period-  The  Bor- 
at  Muuich.  ghese  Mars  of  the  Louvre,  on 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  65 

the  other  hand,  is  undoubtedly  of  Roman  origin.  It  is  supposed  to 
represent  Ares  bound  by  the  craft  of  Hephaestus. 

Besides  these  two  principal  statues,  the  bust  of  Mars  of  the  Munich 
collection  deserves  mention.  It  is  distinguished  by  a  peculiarly  ex- 
pressive head,  of  which  we  give  an  engraving  (Fig.  16). 

The  attributes  of  Mars  are  the  helmet  (decorated  with  the  figures 
of  wolf-hounds  and  griffins),  shield,  and  spear.  The  animals  sacred 
to  him  were  the  wolf,  the  horse,  and  the  woodpecker. 

7.  Aphrodite  (Venus).— In  the  "  Iliad,"  Aphrodite 
is  represented  as  the  daughter  of  Zeus  and  Dione,  the  god- 
dess of  moisture,  who,  as  the  wife  of  the  god  of  heaven, 
was  held  in  high  esteem  among  the  old  Pelasgians.  This 
account,  however,  was  gradually  replaced  by  another  which 
prevailed  among  the  later  poets,  who  related  that  Aphro- 
dite was  born  of  the  foam  of  the  sea,  and  first  touched 
land  on  the  island  of  Cyprus,  which  was  henceforth  held 
sacred  to  her.  She  was  undoubtedly  Oriental  in  her  origin, 
being  probably  a  personification  of  the  creative  and  gener- 
ative forces  of  nature.  She  figured  among  the  Greeks  as 
goddess  of  beauty  and  sexual  love. 

We  must  not  forget  that  this  conception,  which  was  so 
extensively  circulated  by  the  poets,  by  no  means  absorbs 
the  whole  character  of  the  goddess.  It  really  covers  only 
that  of  Aphrodite  Pandemus  (the  earthly  Aphrodite),  a 
goddess  of  the  spring,  by  whose  wondrous  power  all  germs 
in  the  natural  and  vegetable  world  are  quickened.  There 
was  another  deity,  Aphrodite  Urania,  a  celestial  deity,  who 
was  venerated  as  the  dispenser  of  prosperity  and  fertility ; 
and  also  an  Aphrodite  Pontia  (of  the  sea),  the  tutelary 
deity  of  ships  and  mariners,  who  controlled  the  winds  and 
the  waves,  and  granted  to  ships  a  fair  and  prosperous  pas- 
sage. As  the  worship  of  Aphrodite  was  extremely  popu- 
lar among  the  numerous  islands  and  ports  of  the  Grecian 

5 


66          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

seas,  we  can  well  imagine  that  it  was  in  this  latter  charac- 
ter that  she  received  her  greatest  share  of  honor. 

The  poets  paint  Aphrodite  as  the  most  beautiful  of  all 
the  goddesses,  whose  magic  power  not  even  the  wisest 
could  withstand.  Even  wild  animals  were  conscious  of 
her  influence,  and  pressed  round  her  like  lambs.  In  partial 
explanation  of  this  otherwise  incomprehensible  fact,  she 
Avas  endowed  with  the  celebrated  love -begetting  magic 
girdle,  which  she  could  lay  aside  at  will  and  lend  to  others. 
And  as  she  thus  gave  rise  to  passion  in  others,  she  herself 
was  not  free  from  its  influence.  This  is  evidenced  by  the 
numerous  stories  of  her  amours  with  the  gods  or  favored 
mortals,  which  it  is  so  difficult  to  bring  into  harmony  with 
each  other.  Sometimes  Ares,  sometimes  HephaBstus,  is 
said  to  be  her  husband.  The  latter  account,  which  origi- 
nated in  Lcmnos,  was  the  more  popular ;  doubtless  because 
its  very  strangeness  in  mating  the  sweetest  and  most  love- 
ly of  the  goddesses  with  the  lame  and  ugly  god  of  fire  had 
a  certain  charm.  No  children  are  mentioned  as  springing 
from  the  union  of  Aphrodite  with  Hephaestus ;  but  Eros 
and  Anteros,  as  well  as  Demus  and  Phobus,  are  said  to  be 
her  children  by  Ares.  Other  legends,  generally  of  a  local 
character,  unite  her  to  Dionysus,  or  to  Hermes. 

The  story  of  her  love  for  the  beautiful  Adonis  is  of  Asi- 
atic origin,  but  underwent  various  alterations  on  its  way 
through  Greece.  The  germ  of  the  story  may  be  easily  dis- 
tinguished. It  clearly  represents  the  decay  of  nature  in 
autumn,  and  its  resuscitation  in  spring.  Adonis,  whom 
Aphrodite  tenderly  loved,  was  killed,  when  hunting,  by  a 
wild-boar.  Inconsolable  at  her  loss,  Aphrodite  piteously 
entreated  Father  Zeus  to  restore  his  life.  Zeus  at  length 
consented  that  Adonis  should  spend  one  part  of  the  year 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  67 

in  the  world  of  shadows,  and  the  other  in  the  upper  world. 
Clearly  the  monster  that  deprived  Adonis  of  life  is  only  a 
symbol  of  the  frosty  winter,  before  whose  freezing  blast  all 
life  in  nature  decays. 

In  the  story  of  Troy,  Aphrodite  plays  an  important  part. 
She  was  the  original  cause  of  the  war,  having  assisted  Paris 
in  his  elopement  with  Helen.  This  was  his  reward  for  his 
celebrated  judgment,  in  which  he  awarded  the  prize  of 
beauty  to  Aphrodite  in  preference  to  Hera  or  Athene. 
Besides  the  Trojan  prince,  Anchises  enjoyed  her  favors,  and 
she  became  by  him  the  mother  of  the  pious  hero  ^Eneas. 

The  goddess  appears  ever  ready  to  assist  unfortunate 
lovers ;  thus  she  aided  the  hero  Peleus  to  obtain  the  beau- 
tiful sea-nymph  Thetis.  On  the  other  hand,  she  punishes 
with  the  utmost  severity  those  who  from  pride  or  disdain 
resist  her  power.  This  appears  in  the  legend  of  Hippol- 
ytus,  son  of  Theseus,  King  of  Athens,  whom  she  ruined 
through  the  love  of  his  step  -  mother  Phaedra ;  also  in  the 
story  of  the  beautiful  youth  Narcissus,  whom  she  punished 
by  an  ungratified  self-love,  because  he  had  despised  the 
love  of  the  nymph  Echo. 

The  Seasons  and  the  Graces  appear  in  attendance  on 
Aphrodite.  Their  office  is  to  dress  and  adorn  her.  She 
is  also  accompanied  by  Eros,  Pothus,  and  Himerus  (Love, 
Longing,  and  Desire),  besides  Hymen,  or  Hymenseus,  the 
god  of  marriage. 

The  Roman  Venus  (the  Lovely  One)  was  regarded  by  the 
earlier  Italian  tribes  as  the  goddess  of  spring,  for  which 
reason  April,  the  month  of  buds,  was  held  sacred  to  her. 
She  early  acquired  a  certain  social  importance,  by  having 
ascribed  to  her  a  beneficent  influence  in  promoting  civil 
harmony  and  sociability  among  men. 


68          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

After  her  identification  with  the  Aphrodite  of  the 
Greeks,  she  became  more  and  more  a  goddess  merely  of 
sensual  love  and  desire.  She  had  three  principal  shrines — 
those  of  Venus  Murcia,  Venus  Cloacina,  and  Libitina.  The 
first  of  these  surnames  points  to  Venus  as  the  myrtle  god- 
dess (the  myrtle  being  an  emblem  of  chaste  love) :  her 
temple  was  situated  on  the  brow  of  the  Aventine,  and  was 
supposed  to  have  been  erected  by  the  Latins,  who  were 
planted  there  by  Ancus  Marcius. 

The  temple  of  Venus  Cloacina  (the  purifier)  was  said  to 
have  been  erected  in  memory  of  the  reconciliation  of  the 
Romans  and  Sabines,  after  the  rape  of  the  Sabihe  women. 
The  surname  of  Libitina  points  to  her  as  goddess  of  corpses. 
All  the  apparatus  of  funerals  Avere  kept  in  this  temple,  and 
her  attendants  were  at  the  same  time  the  public  undertak- 
ers of  the  city.  The  astonished  reader  may  well  ask  how 
it  was  that  Venus,  the  queen  of  love  and  pleasure,  acquired 
such  a  character.  But  here,  as  elsewhere,  extremes  meet, 
and  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  mythological  concep- 
tions of  the  ancients  will  scarcely  wonder  at  this  double 
nature,  with  which  we  shall  become  better  acquainted  in 
the  case  of  the  terrestrial  deities. 

To  these  ancient  shrines  was  added  another  in  the  time 
of  Julius  Caesar,  who  erected  a  temple  to  Venus  Genetrix, 
tue  goddess  of  wedlock,  in  fulfilment  of  a  vow  made  at  the 

O  * 

battle  of  Pharsalus. 

Aphrodite,  or  Venus,  is  notoriously  an  especially  common  subject 
of  representation  among  the  artists  of  antiquity.  The  task  of  giving 
expression  to  the  most  perfect  female  beauty,  arrayed  in  all  the 
charms  of  love,  by  means  of  chisel  or  brush,  continually  spurs  the 
artist  to  fresh  endeavors.  It  was  especially  among  the  masters  of 
the  later  Attic  school,  who  devoted  themselves  to  the  representation 
of  the  youthful  and  beautiful  among  the  gods  in  whom  the  nude  ap- 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS. 


peared  least  offensive,  that  statues  of  Venus  were  attempted.  The 
Venus  of  Cnidus,  by  Praxiteles,  was  the  most  important  work  of  that 
master ;  and  the  people  of  Cnidus  were  so  proud  of  it  that  they  en- 
graved her  image  on  their  coins.  The  fact  that  they  ventured  to 
portray  the  goddess  as  entirely  nude 
may  be  regarded  as  a  sign  both  of  the 
falling-away  of  the  popular  faith  and 
of  the  decay  of  art.  Henceforth,  ex- 
cept in  the  case  of  statues  for  the 
temples,  it  became  an  established  cus- 
tom to  represent  Venus  and  other  kin- 
dred deities  as  nude.  Venus  is  further 
distinguished  by  a  fulness  of  form, 
which  is,  nevertheless,  combined  with 
slendcrness  and  grace.  The  counte- 
nance is  oval ;  the  eyes  are  not  large, 
and  have  a  languishing  expression; 
the  mouth  is  small,  and  the  cheeks 
and  chin  full  and  round. 

Of  the  numerous  existing  statues 
we  can  here  mention  only  the  most 
important.  First  among  them  in  ar- 
tistic worth  is  a  marble  statue  larger 
than  life,  which  was  found  in  1820  on 
the  island  of  Melos  (Milo),  and  is  now 
in  the  Louvre  at  Paris  (Fig.  17).  In 
this  statue  only  the  upper  part  of  the 
body  is  nude,  the  lower  portions,  from 
the  hips  downward,  being  covered  with 
a  light  garment.  One  scarcely  knows 
which  to  admire  most  in  this  splendid 
statue  —  the  singularly  dignified  ex- 
pression of  the  head,  or  the  charming 
fulness  and  magnificent  proportions 
of  the  limbs.  The  arms  are  quite 
broken  off,  so  that  we  cannot  deter- 
mine the  conception  of  the  artist  with  Fig  1T._veuus  of  Milo.  Louvre, 
any  certainty.  It  is  supposed  that  the 

goddess  held  in  her  hand  either  an  apple,  which  was  a  symbol  of  the 
Isle  of  Melos,  or  the  bronze  shield  of  Ares.  Her  looks  express  proud 
and  ioyous  self-consciousness. 


J?ig.  18.— Venus  Gcnetrix.    Villa  Borghes*. 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  71 

In  the  Venus  of  Capua  (so  called  because  found  among  the  ruins 
of  the  Amphitheatre)  she  again  appears  as  a  victorious  goddess 
(Venus  Victrix).  This  statue  is  now  in  the  Museum  at  Naples.  The 
shape  of  the  nude  body  is  not  so  vigorous  or  fresh  as  that  of  the 
Venus  of  Milo,  but  somewhat  soft  and  ill-defined. 

The  Medicean  Venus,  formerly  in  the  Villa  Medici  at  Rome,  is  bet- 
ter known.  It  is  a  work  of  the  later  Attic  schoo.l,  in  which,  at  the 
end  of  the  second  century  B.C.,  Greek  art  once  more  blooms  for  a 
while.  It  is  the  work  of  the  Athenian  artist  Cleomenes,  though  prob- 
ably chiselled  in  Rome.  As  Venus  Anadyomene  (rising  from  the 
sea)  the  goddess  appears  entirely  nude.  This  is  the  most  youthful  in 
appearance  of  all  her  statues,  and  is  distinguished  by  the  perfect  reg- 
ularity and  beauty  of  its  form,  though  there  is  no  trace  of  the  lofty 
dignity  of  the  goddess.  "  What  a  descent,"  says  Kraus,  in  his  "  Chris- 
tian Art,"  "  is  there  from  the  Venus  of  Milo  to  this  coquette,  whose 
apparently  bashful  posture  is  only  meant  to  challenge  the  notice  of 
the  beholder !" 

The  "  Venus  crouching  i  i  the  Bath "  of  the  Vatican  collection 
and  the  "  Venus  loosing  her  Sandal "  of  the  Munich  Gallery  are  crea- 
tions similar  in  style.  In  some  imitations  of  the  Cnidian  Venus,  the 
most  important  of  which  are  in  Rome  and  Munich,  the  goddess  wears 
a  more  dignified  demoanor;  and  also  in  the  wonderfully  graceful 
Venus  Genetrix  of  the  Villa  Borghese  at  Rome  (Fig.  18). 

The  attributes  of  Venus  vary  much  according  to  the  prevailing 
conception  of  the  goddess.  The  dove,  the  sparrow,  and  the  dolphin, 
and  among  plants  the  myrtle,  the  rose,  the  apple,  the  poppy,  and  the 
lime-tree,  were  sacred  to  her. 

8.  Hermes  (Mercurius). — Hermes  was  the  son  of 
Zeus  and  Maia,  a  daughter  of  Atlas.  He  was  born  in  a 
grotto  of  Mount  Cyllene,  in  Arcadia,  whence  he  is  called 
Cyllenius.  We  know  the  stories  of  his  youth  chiefly  from 
the  so-called  Homeric  Hymn.  This  relates  in  a  delightful 
manner  how  Hermes,  soon  after  his  birth,  gave  token  of  his 
cunning  and  dexterity,  the  chief  features  of  his  character. 
Growing  in  a  wonderful  manner,  as  only  gods  can  grow,  he 
sprung,  only  four  hours  after  his  birth,  from  his  mother's 
lap,  and  finding  a  tortoise,  he  placed  strings  across  its  shell, 


72  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

and  thus  invented  the  lyre,  on  which  he  immediately  began 
to  sing  the  loves  of  Zeus  and  Maia.  Then  towards  even- 
ing, impelled  by  a  resistless  craving  for  meat,  he  hurried  to 
Pieria,  where  he  stole  fifty  bulls  from  the  herds  of  Apollo. 
After  killing  two  of  them,  and  thus  satisfying  his  hunger, 
he  returned  to  the  grotto  of  his  mother,  and  lay  down  in 
his  cradle  as  though  nothing  had  happened.  Apollo,  how- 
ever, soon  remarked  the  theft,  and  hurried  after  the  impu- 
dent robber.  Hermes  now  played  the  innocent,  and  obsti- 
nately denied  the  charge ;  but  Apollo  was  not  to  be  de- 
ceived, and  forced  the  young  thief  to  accompany  him  to 
the  throne  of  Zeus  to  have  their  quarrel  decided.  Zeus  or- 
dered Hermes  to  restore  the  cattle,  but  Apollo  gladly  made 
them  over  to  Hermes  on  receiving  the  newly  invented  lyre. 
Thus  Hermes  became  the  god  of  shepherds  and  pastures, 
while  Apollo  henceforth  zealously  devoted  himself  to  the 
art  of  music. 

As  a  token  of  their  thorough  reconciliation,  Apollo  gave 
his  brother  god  the  golden  Caduceus,  or  magic  wand,  by 
means  of  which  he  could  bestow  happiness  on  whomsoever 
he  would ;  and  henceforth  both  dwelt  together  in  the  utmost 
harmony  and  love,  the  favorite  sons  of  their  father  Zeus. 

While  Apollo  represents  the  warm,  genial  sunshine, 
Hermes,  as  a  power  of  nature,  is  the  rain.  Rain  and  sun- 
shine are  both  emanations  of  the  great  God  of  heaven,  or, 
in  the  language  of  mythology,  his  sons.  Both  appear  in 
the  character  of  deities  benevolent  and  propitious  towards 
mankind,  and  this  is  probably  the  reason  why  Hermes  and 
Apollo  have  so  many  features  in  common.  Their  chief 
difference  lies  in  the  fact  that  while  Apollo,  as  god  of  light, 
comes  to  represent  the  higher  intelligence  of  the  mind, 
Hermes  represents  the  practical  wisdom  of  the  world. 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  73 

The  following  are  the  most  important  features  in  the 
character  of  Hermes :  First,  as  god  of  the  fertilizing  rain, 
he  appears  especially  as  the  dispenser  of  all  good  gifts  in 
every  relation  of  human  life.  Not  only  does  he  promote 
the  fruitfulness  of  flocks  and  herds,  but  he  also  bestows 
prosperity  and  success  on  all  undertakings,  especially  those 
of  trade  and  commerce.  As  the  guardian  of  the  streets 
and  roads,  and  the  friendly  guide  of  those  travelling  on 
business,  Hermes  must  have  appeared  especially  worthy  of 
honor  among  the  Greeks,  who  were  at  all  times  sharp  and 
greedy  men  of  business.  Accordingly,  men  erected  in  his 
honor,  on  the  roads,  what  were  called  Hermse — mere  blocks 
of  stone,  or  posts,  with  one  or  more  heads:  these  latter 
were  at  cross-roads,  and  also  served  as  finger-posts.  Hermse 
were  a1  so  often  to  be  seen  in  the  streets  of  towns  and  in 
public  squares.  Not  only  did  Hermes  protect  and  guide 
merchants  while  travelling,  but  he  also  endowed  them  with 
shrewdness  and  cunning  to  outwit  others.  And  as  a  god 
who  had  himself  commenced  his  career  by  a  dexterous 
theft,  he  was  fain  to  allow  thieves  and  rogues  to  invoke  his 
protection  before  entering  on  their  operations ;  just  as  in 
the  present  day  robbers  and  bandits  in  Italy  or  Greece  see 
nothing  strange  in  asking  their  patron  saint  to  bestow  on 
them  a  rich  prey.  Every  chance  gain — in  gambling,  for 
instance — and  every  fortunate  discovery  was  attributed  to 
Hermes. 

Though  playing  such  an  important  part  in  human  life, 
Hermes  also  appears  as  the  fleet  messenger  and  dexterous 
agent  of  Zeus.  It  is  in  this  guise  that  the  epic  poets  love 
to  depict  them.  With  his  golden-winged  shoes  he  passes 
more  swiftly  than  the  wind  over  land  and  sea,  executing  the 
commissions  of  his  father  Zeus  or  the  other  inhabitants 


74  GREEK    AND    ROMAX    MYTHOLOGT. 

of  Olympus.  Thus  he  is  sent  by  Zeus  to  command  the 
nymph  Calypso  to  release  Odysseus,  and  to  warn  ^Egisthus 
against  the  murder  of  Agamemnon.  At  times,  difficult 
tasks  are  allotted  to  him ;  for  instance,  the  destruction  of 
the  hundred-eyed  guardian  of  lo,  on  which  account  Homer 
calls  him  the  Argus-slayer.  Doubtless  in  this  myth  the 
hundred-eyed  Argus  represents  the  starry  heavens ;  Argus  is 
slain  by  the  rain-god  Hermes,  or,  in  other  words,  the  heav- 
ens are  rendered  invisible  by  the  thick  clouds.  As  messen- 
ger and  herald  of  the  gods,  he  is  a  model  for  all  earthly 
heralds,  who,  in  ancient  times,  were  the  indispensable  agents 
of  kings  in  every  difficult  business.  Hence  he  bears  the 
herald's  staff,  or  Caduceus.  This  is  the  same  wand  once 
given  him  by  Apollo,  consisting  of  three  branches,  one 
of  which  forms  the  handle,  while  the  other  two  branch 
off  like  a  fork,  and  are  joined  in  a  knot.  The  origin  of 
this  herald's  staff  appears  to  have  been  the  olive-branch, 
wreathed  with  fillets  of  wool.  It  was  only  at  a  later  period 
that  the  two  last  were  converted  into  serpents.  By  means 
of  this  wand  Hermes  can  either  induce  deep  sleep  or  rouse 
a  slumberer,  but  he  uses  it  chiefly  in  guiding  souls  to  the 
infernal  regions.  This  leads  us  to  speak  of  the  important 
office  of  Hermes  as  Psychopompus,  or  conductor  of  the 
soul.  Every  soul,  after  death,  commenced  its  journey  to 
the  region  of  shadows  under  the  guidance  of  the  god.  On 
extraordinary  occasions,  where,  for  instance,  the  spirits  were 
summoned  in  the  oracles  of  the  dead,  Hermes  had  to  recon- 
duct  the  souls  of  the  departed  to  the  upper  world,  thus 
becoming  a  mediator  between  these  two  regions,  in  other 
respects  so  far  divided. 

As  dreams  come  from  the  lower  world,  Hermes  was  nat- 
urally regarded  as  the  deity  from  whom  they  proceeded; 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  75 

on  which  account  people  were  wont  to  ask  him  for  good 
dreams  before  going  to  sleep. 

The  highest  conception  of  Hermes,  however,  is  that  of 
the  god  who  presides  over  the  bringing  -  up  of  children ; 
and,  indeed,  what  god  was  more  fitted  to  be  presented  as 
an  example  to  Grecian  youth  than  the  messenger  of  the 
gods,  equally  dexterous  in  mind  and  body  ?  He  is  the  fleet- 
est of  runners,  and  the  most  skilful  of  disk-throwers  and 
boxers  ;  and  though  he  does  not,  like  Apollo,  represent  any 
of  the  higher  forms  of  intellectual  life,  still  he  possesses  in 
the  highest  degree  that  practical  common-sense  which  was 
so  greatly  valued  among  the  Greeks.  The  wrestling-school 
and  the  gymnasium  were  consequently  regarded  as  his  in- 
stitutions, and  adorned  with  his  statues.  In  further  devel- 
opment of  his  relation  to  the  education  of  the  young,  later 
poets  even  made  him  the  inventor  of  speech,  of  the  alpha- 
bet, and  of  the  art  of  interpreting  languages.  The  custom 
which  prevailed  among  the  Greeks  of  offering  him  the 
tongues  of  the  slaughtered  animals  shows  clearly  that  they 
also  considered  him  as  the  patron  of  eloquence. 

There  is  little  to  be  said  of  the  Roman  Mercury.  As 
his  name  (from  mercari,  to  trade)  signifies,  he  was  consid- 
ered by  the  Romans  solely  as  god  of  trade.  His  worship 
was  introduced  at  the  same  time  as  that  of  Ceres — some 
years  after  the  expulsion  of  the  Tarquins,  at  a  season  of 
great  scarcity — but  appears  to  have  become  confined  to  the 
plebeians.  The  guild  of  merchants  regarded  him  as  their 
tutelary  deity,  and  offered  sacrifices  to  him  and  his  mother 
Maia  on  the  Ides  of  May. 

The  plastic  representation  of  Hermes  made  equal  progress  with 
his  ideal  development.  The  first  statues  of  the  god,  founded  on  the 
ancient  Hermse  already  mentioned,  represented  him  as  a  shepherd, 


70  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

sometimes  as  the  herald  and  messenger  of  the  gods,  always  as  a 
powerful  bearded  man.  Later,  he  assumed  a  more  youthful  appear- 
ance, and  was  represented  as  a  beardless  youth  in  the  very  prime  of 
strength,  with  broad  chest,  lithe  but  powerful  limbs,  curly  hair,  and 
small  ears,  mouth,  and  eyes;  altogether  a  wonderful  combination  of 
grace  and  vigor.  If  we  add  to  this  the  expression  of  kindly  benev- 
olence which  plays  around  his  finely  cut  lips,  and  the  inquiring  look 
of  his  face  as  he  bends  forward  thoughtfully,  we  have  the  principal 
characteristic  features  of  the  god. 
Among  existing  statues,  a  full-sized  "  Hermes  at  rest,"  in  bronze, 


Fig.  19.— Resting  Hermes.    Bronze  Statue  at  Naples. 


Fig.  20.— Statue  of  Hermes.    Capitoline  Collection, 


78  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

which  was  found  at  Herculaneum,  and  is  now  in  the  Naples  Museum, 
is  perhaps  most  worthy  of  mention.  He  here  appears  as  the  messen- 
ger of  the  gods,  and  has  just  sat  down  on  a  rock  to  rest.  The  wing- 
ed sandals  form  his  only  clothing,  and  these  are,  strictly  speaking, 
not  really  sandals,  but  simply  straps  covering  the  foot,  to  which 
wings  are  fastened  close  to  the  ankles  (Fig.  19). 

A  splendid  marble  statue  of  the  Vatican  collection,  which  was 
once  taken  for  Antinous,  portrays  the  god  as  the  patron  of  wrestling; 
the  Caducous  which  he  holds  in  his  left  hand  is,  however,  a  modern 
addition.  In  the  Hermes  Ludovisi  of  Rome  we  have  a  graceful  rep- 
resentation of  Hermes  Logius,  the  patron  of  the  art  of  rhetoric.  The 
wings  are  here  not  placed  on  the  feet,  or  even  directly  on  the  head, 
as  is  often  the  cass,  but  are  fastened  to  a  low  round  travelling-hat. 

A  pretty  broaze  statuette  in  the  British  Museum  depicts  Hermes 
as  the  god  of  trade  and  commerce,  with  a  well -filled  purse  in  his 
hand.  Such  is  also  the  conception  of  a  fine  statue  of  the  Capitoline 
collection  at  Rome  (Fig.  20).  The  principal  attributes  of  the  god 
have  already  been  incidentally  mentioned :  they  are  wings  on  the 
feet,  head,  or  cap  ;  the  herald's  staff,  the  votive  bowl,  and  the  purse. 

9.  Hephaestus  (Vulcan). — Hephaestus,  the  god  of 
fire  and  the  forge,  was  commonly  regarded  as  a  son  of  Zeus 
and  Hera.  He  was  so  lame  and  ugly  that  his  mother  in 
shame  cast  him  from  heaven  into  the  sea.  But  Eurynome 
and  Thetis,  the  Oceanids,  took  pity  on  him,  and  tended  him 
for  nine  years  in  a  deep  grotto  of  the  sea,  in  return  for 
which  he  made  them  many  ornaments.  After  being  rec- 
onciled to  his  mother,  he  returned  to  Olympus  under  the 
guidance  of  Dionysus.  According  to  another  not  less  pop- 
ular account,  it  was  not  his  mother  who  treated  him  so  cru- 
elly, but  Zeus.  Hephaestus,  on  the  occasion  of  a  quarrel 
between  Zeus  and  Hera,  came  to  the  help  of  his  mother, 
whereupon  the  angry  god  of  heaven  seized  him  by  the  foot 
and  hurled  him  from  Olympus.  The  unfortunate  Hephaes- 
tus fell  for  a  whole  day,  but  alighted  at  sundown  on  the 
isle  of  Lemnos  with  but  little  breath  in  his  body.  Here 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  79 

the  Sintians,  who  inhabited  the  island,  tended  him  till  his 
recovery.  Later  writers  say  that  it  was  from  this  fall  that 
he  became  lame.  The  same  fundamental  idea  lies  at  the 
root  of  these  various  legends,  viz.,  that  fire  first  came  down 
from  heaven  in  the  form  of  lightning.  Hephaestus  origi- 
nally represented  the  element  of  fire,  and  all  the  effects  of 
fire  are  accordingly  referred  to  him.  The  fires  of  the  earth 
break  forth  from  the  open  craters  of  volcanoes ;  it  must 
therefore  be  Hephaestus  who  is  working  in  the  midst  of  the 
fiery  mountain,  where  he  has  his  forges  and  his  smithies. 
So  says  the  legend  of  Mount  Mosychlus,  in  Lemnos,  the 
chief  seat  of  h^s  worship.  Scarcely  less  celebrated,  from 
its  connection  with  him,  was  Mount  ./Etna,  in  Sicily.  Af- 
ter it  was  observed  that  the  wine  was  particularly  good  in 
the  neighborhood  of  volcanic  mountains,  the  story  of  the 
intimate  friendship  between  Hephaestus  and  Dionysus  was 
concocted. 

The  most  beneficial  action  of  fire  is  manifested  in  its 
power  to  melt  metals,  and  render  them  useful  to  man  in 
the  shape  of  implements  and  tools  of  all  kinds.  Hence 
the  conception  of  the  character  of  Hephaestus  tended  ever 
more  and  more  to  represent  him  as  the  master  of  all  in- 
genious working  in  metals,  and  as  the  patron  of  artificers 
and  craftsmen  using  fire.  In  this  character  he  was  brought 
into  close  connection  with  the  art-loving  goddess  Athene, 
and  hence  we  see  why  both  these  divinities  enjoyed  so 
many  kindred  honors  and  had  so  many  festivals  in  com- 
mon at  Athens,  the  chief  seat  of  Greek  science  and  art. 
It  was  also  chiefly  in  the  character  of  artificer  that  He- 
phaestus was  treated  of  by  the  poets,  who  delight  to  de- 
scribe the  gorgeous  brazen  palace  which  he  built  himself 
on  Olympus,  in  which  was  a  huge  workshop  with  twenty 


80  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

cunningly  devised  pairs  of  bellows.  He  also  constructed 
there  the  imperishable  dwellings  of  the  gods.  Many  also 
were  the  ingenious  implements  which  he  constructed,  such 
as  the  walking-tables,  or  tripods,  which  moved  of  their  own 
accord  into  the  banqueting-chamber  of  the  gods,  and  then 
returned  to  their  places  after  the  meal  was  over.  He  also 
made  himself  two  golden  statues  of  maidens,  to  assist 
him  in  walking,  and  bestowed  on  them  speech  and  motion. 
Among  the  other  works  of  his  mentioned  by  the  poets  are 
the  aegis  and  sceptre  of  Zeus,  the  trident  of  Poseidon,  the 
shield  of  Heracles,  and  the  armor  of  Achilles,  among  which, 
also,  was  a  shield  of  extraordinary  beauty. 

The  worship  of  Hephasstus  was  not  very  extensive  in 
Greece.  The  most  important  seat  of  his  worship  was  the 
isle  of  Lemnos,  where  he  was  supposed  to  dwell  on  Mount 
Mosychlus  with  his  workmen,  the  Cabiri,  who  answer  to 
the  Cyclopes  of  vEtna.  He  was  held  in  great  esteem  at 
Athens,  where,  at  different  festivals,  torch-races  were  held 
in  his  honor.  Young  men  ran  with  burning  torches,  and 
whoever  first  reached  the  goal  with  his  torch  alight  re- 
ceived the  prize.  He  was,  moreover,  highly  venerated  by 
the  Greeks  in  Campania  and  Sicily,  a  fact  which  may  be 
easily  explained  by  the  fiery  mountains  of  these  places. 

The  Romans  called  this  god  Vulcanus,  or,  according  to 
its  more  ancient  spelling,  Volcanus.  They  honored  in 
him  the  blessings  and  beneficial  action  of  fire.  They  also 
sought  his  protection  against  conflagrations.  Under  the 
influence  of  the  Greek  writers,  the  original  and  more  com- 
mon conception  of  the  god  gave  place  to  the  popular  im- 
age of  the  smith-god,  or  Mulciber,  who  had  his  forges  in 
JEtna,  or  on  the  Lipari  Isles,  and  who  vied  with  his  com- 
rades in  wielding  the  hammer.  In  correspondence  with 


Fig.  21.— Hephaestus.    Bronze  Figure  in  the  British  Museum. 
6 


82  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

the  Greek  myths,  Venus  was  given  him  to  wife ;  by  this 
men  doubtless  sought  to  convey  the  idea  that  truly  ar- 
tistic works  can  only  be  created  in  harmony  with  beauty. 

The  chief  shrine  of  the  god  in  Rome  was  the  Volcanai, 
in  the  Comitium,  which  was  not  really  a  temple,  but  mere 
ly  a  covered  fireplace.  In  the  Campus  Martius,  however, 
was  a  real  temple  close  to  the  Flarainian  Circus,  where  the 
festival  of  the  Volcanalia  was  celebrated  with  every  kind 
of  game  on  the  23d  day  of  August. 

Greek  and  Roman  artists  generally  represented  this  god  as  a  pow- 
erful, bearded  man  of  full  age.  He  is  distinguished  by  the  shortness 
of  his  left  leg,  by  the  sharp,  shrewd  glance  of  his  cunning  eye,  and 
his  firm  mouth.  His  attributes  are  the  smith's  tools,  the  pointed 
oval  workman's  cap,  and  the  short  upper  garment  of  the  craftsman 
or  humble  citizen. 

With  the  exception  of  some  small  bronzes  in  London  and  Berlin, 
and  a  newly  discovered  marble  bust  of  the  Vatican  collection,  we 
possess  no  antique  statues  of  the  god  worth  mentioning.  The  en- 
graving (Fig.  21)  is  from  a  bronze  in  the  British  Museum. 

10.  Hestia  (Vestia). — It  must  have  been  at  a  com- 
paratively late  period  that  Hestia,  the  daughter  of  Cronus 
and  Rhea,  attained  a  general  veneration,  as  her  name  is  not 
mentioned  either  in  the  "  Iliad  "  or  "  Odyssey."  Hestia  is 
the  guardian  angel  of  mankind,  who  guards  the  security  of 
the  dwelling,  and  is,  in  consequence,  regarded  as  the  god- 
dess of  the  family  hearth,  the  centre  of  domestic  life.  The 
hearth  possessed  among  the  ancients  a  far  higher  signifi- 
cance than  it  does  in  modern  life.  It  not  only  served  for 
the  preparation  of  meals,  but  was  also  esteemed  the  sacred 
altar  of  the  house  ;  there  the  images  of  the  household  gods 
were  placed ;  and  thither,  after  the  old  patriarchal  fashion, 
the  father  and  priest  of  the  family  offered  sacrifice  on  all 
the  important  occasions  of  domestic  life.  No  offering  was 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  83 

made  in  which  Hestia,  the  very  centre  of  all  domestic  life, 
had  not  her  share. 

And  as  the  State  is  composed  of  families,  the  goddess 
of  the  domestic  circle  naturally  becomes  the  protectress  of 
every  political  community.  On  this  account,  in  Greek 
states,  the  Prytancum,  or  seat  of  the  governing  body,  was 
dedicated  to  Hestia ;  there  she  had  an  altar,  on  which  a 
fire  was  ever  kept  burning.  From  this  altar  colonists,  who 
were  about  to  leave  their  native  land  in  search  of  new 
homes,  always  took  some  fire — a  pleasing  figurative  indica- 
tion of  the  moral  ties  between  the  colony  and  the  mother 
country. 

As  the  hearth-fire  of  the  Prytaneum  was  an  outward 
and  visible  sign  to  the  members  of  a  state  that  they  were 
one  great  family,  so  the  Hestia  of  the  temple  at  Delphi 
signified  to  the  Greeks  their  national  connection  and  the 
unity  of  their  worship.  Her  altar  in  thi?  temple  was 
placed  in  the  hall  before  the  cave  of  the  oracle  ;  on  it  was 
placed  the  celebrated  omphalus  (navel  of  the  earth,  like- 
wise an  emblem  of  the  goddess),  Delphi  being  regarded 
by  the  Greeks  as  the  centre  of  the  whole  earth.  Here, 
too,  a  fire  was  kept  ever  burning  in  honor  of  Hestia.  The 
character  of  the  goddess  was  as  pure  and  untarnished  as 
flame  itself.  Not  only  did  she  herself  remain  a  virgin, 
though  wooed  by  both  Poseidon  and  Apollo,  but  her  ser- 
vice could  be  performed  only  by  chaste  virgins.  She  does 
not  appear  to  have  had  a  separate  temple  of  her  own  in 
Greece,  since  she  had  a  place  in  every  temple. 

The  service  of  Vesta  occupied  a  far  more  important 
place  in  the  public  life  of  the  Romans.  Her  most  ancient 
temple,  which  was  supposed  to  have  been  built  by  Numa 
Pompilius,  was  situated  on  the  slope  of  the  Palatine  oppo- 


84  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

site  the  Forum.  It  was  built  in  a  circle,  and  was  of  mod- 
erate dimensions,  being,  indeed,  little  more  than  a  covered 
fireplace.  In  it  the  eternal  fire,  a  symbol  of  the  life  of 
the  State,  was  kept  burning.  Here,  too,  the  service  was 
performed  by  virgins,  whose  number  was  at  first  four,  but 
was  afterward  increased  to  six.  Their  chief  occupation 
was  to  maintain  the  sacred  fire,  and  to  offer  up  daily' 
prayers  at  the  altar  of  the  goddess  for  the  welfare  of  the 
Roman  people.  The  extinction  of  the  sacred  flame  was  es- 
teemed an  omen  of  coming  misfortune,  and  brought  severe 
punishment  on  the  negligent  priestess.  The  choice  of  ves- 
tals lay  with  the  Pontifex  Maximus.  They  were  chosen 
between  the  ages  of  six  and  ten  years,  always  out  of  the 
best  Roman  families.  For  thirty  years  they  remained 
bound  to  their  sacred  office,  during  which  time  they  had 
to  preserve  the  strictest  chastity.  After  the  lapse  of  thir- 
ty years  they  returned  to  civil  life,  and  were  permitted  to 
marry  if  they  liked. 

Another  sanctuary  of  Vesta  existed  in  Lavinium,  the 
metropolis  of  the  Latins,  where  the  Roman  consuls,  after 
entering  on  their  office,  had  to  perform  a  solemn  sacrifice. 
The  festival  of  Vesta  was  celebrated  on  the  9th  of  June, 
on  which  occasion  the  Roman  women  were  wont  to  make 
a  pilgrimage  barefooted  to  the  temple  of  the  goddess,  and 
place  before  her  offerings  of  food. 

In  the  domestic  life  of  the  Romans  the  hearth  and  the 
hearth-goddess  Vesta  occupied  as  important  a  position  as 
among  the  Greeks.  The  worship  of  Vesta  is  closely  con- 
nected with  that  of  the  Penates,  the  kindly,  protecting, 
household  gods,  who  provided  for  the  daily  wants  of  life, 
and  about  whom  we  shall  have  more  to  say  before  con- 
cluding the  subject  of  the  gods. 


Fig.  22.— Vesta  Giustiniani.    Torlonia  Collection. 


86  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

Agreeably  to  the  chaste,  pure  character  of  the  goddess,  she  could 
only  be  represented  in  art  with  an  expression  of  the  strictest  moral 
purity ;  she  generally  appears  either  sitting  or  standing,  her  coun- 
tenance characterized  by  a  thoughtful  gravity  of  expression.  Her 
principal  attributes  consist  of  the  votive  bowl,  the  torch,  the  sim- 
pulum,  or  small  cup,  which  was  used  in  making  libations,  and  the 
sceptre.  In  consequence  of  the  dignity  and  sanctity  of  her  character, 
she  was  always  represented  as  fully  clothed,  which  may  account  for 
the  fact  that  the  ancients  had  so  few  statues  of  the  goddess.  We 
may,  therefore,  consider  it  fortunate  that  such  a  splendid  example 
as  the  Vesta  Giustiniani,  which  belongs  to  the  private  collection  of 
Prince  Torlonia  at  Rome,  has  come  down  to  us.  It  is  supposed  to  be 
an  original  work  of  the  best  period  of  Greek  art.  The  goddess  is 
represented  as  standing  in  a  calm  posture,  her  right  hand  pressed 
against  her  side,  while  with  the  left  she  points  significantly  towards 
heaven,  as  though  wishing  to  impress  on  mankind  where  to  direct 
their  prayers  and  thoughts  (Fig.  22). 

1 1 .  Janus. — Among  the  most  important  gods  of  the 
Romans  was  the  celebrated  Janus,  a  deity  quite  unknown 
to  the  Greeks.  In  his  original  character  he  was  probably 
a  god  of  the  light  and  sun — the  male  counterpart,  in  fact, 
of  Jana,  or  Diana,  and  thus  very  similar  to  the  Greek  Apol- 
lo. As  long  as  he  maintained  this  original  character,  de- 
rived from  nature,  he  was  regarded  as  the  god  of  all  germs 
and  first  beginnings,  and  possessed,  in  consequence,  an  im- 
portant influence  both  on  the  public  and  private  life  of  the 
Romans.  We  must  confine  ourselves  to  mentioning  some 
of  the  most  important  traits  resulting  from  this  view  of 
his  character.  First,  Janus  is  the  god  of  all  beginnings  of 
time.  He  begins  the  new  year,  whose  first  month  was 
called  January  after  him,  and  was  dedicated  to  him.  Thus, 
New-year's-day  (Kalendce  Januarice)  was  the  most  impor- 
tant festival  of  the  god ;  on  this  occasion  the  houses  and 
doors  were  adorned  with  garlands  and  laurel  boughs,  the 
laurel  being  supposed  to  exercise  a  potent  influence  against 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  W 

all  magic  and  diseases.  Relatives  and  friends  exchanged 
small  presents  (principally  sweets ;  for  example,  dates  and 
figs  wrapped  in  laurel  leaves)  and  good  wishes  for  the 
coming  year.  The  god  himself  received  offerings  of  cake, 
wine,  and  incense,  and  his  statue  was  adorned  with  fresh 
Jaurel  boughs.  This  offering  was  repeated  on  the  first  day 
of  every  month,  for  Janus  opened  up  every  month ;  and  as 
the  Kalends  were  sacred  to  Juno,  he  was  therefore  called 
Junonius.  In  the  same  way  Janus  was  supposed  to  begin 
every  new  day,  and  called  Matutinus  Pater.  He  also  ap- 
pears as  the  door-keeper  of  heaven,  whose  gates  he  opened 
in  the  morning  and  closed  in  the  evening. 

From  being  the  god  of  all  temporal  beginnings,  he  soon 
became  the  patron  and  protector  of  all  the  beginnings  of 
human  activity.  The  Romans  had  a  most  superstitious 
belief  in  the  importance  of  a  good  commencement  for  ev- 
erything, concluding  that  this  had  a  magical  influence  on 
the  good  or  evil  result  of  every  undertaking.  Thus,  nei- 
ther in  public  nor  private  life  did  they  ever  undertake  any- 
thing of  importance  without  first  confiding  the  beginning 
to  the  protection  of  Janus.  Among  the  most  important 
events  of  political  life  was  the  departure  of  the  youth  of 
the  country  to  war.  An  offering  was  therefore  made  to 
the  god  by  the  departing  general,  and  the  temple,  or  cov- 
ered passage  sacred  to  the  god,  was  left  open  during  the 
continuance  of  the  war,  as  a  sign  that  the  god  had  depart- 
ed with  the  troops  and  had  them  under  his  protection. 
The  consul  never  neglected,  when  he  entered  on  his  office, 
to  ask  the  blessing  of  Janus,  and  the  assemblies  never  be- 
gan their  consultations  without  invoking  Janus.  In  the 
same  way  the  private  citizen,  in  all  important  occurrences 
and  undertakings,  sought  by  prayers  and  vows  to  acquire 


88  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

the  favor  of  Janus.  The  husbandman,  before  he  com- 
menced either  to  sow  or  to  reap,  brought  to  Janus  Con- 
sivius  an  offering  of  cake  and  wine.  The  merchant,  when 
he  entered  on  a  journey  of  business,  and  the  sailor,  when 
he  weighed  anchor  and  started  on  a  long  and  dangerous 
voyage,  never  omitted  to  invoke  the  blessing  of  the  god. 
This  view  of  the  god  also  explains  the  custom  of  calling 
on  Janus  first  in  every  prayer  and  at  every  sacrifice,  since, 
as  keeper  of  the  gates  of  heaven,  he  also  appeared  to  give 
admittance  to  the  prayers  of  men. 

As  the  god  of  all  first  beginnings,  Janus  is  also  the 
source  of  all  springs,  rivers,  and  streams  of  the  earth.  On 
this  account  the  fountain  nymphs  were  generally  looked 
on  as  his  wives,  and  Fontus  and  Tiberinus  as  his  sons. 

The  power  of  Janus  in  causing  springs  to  rise  suddenly 
from  the  earth  was  experienced,  to  their  cost,  by  the  Sa- 
bines.  The  latter,  in  consequence  of  the  rape  of  their 
women,  had  overrun  the  infant  state  of  Rome,  and  were 
about  to  introduce  themselves  into  the  town  on  the  Pal- 
atine through  an  open  gate,  when  they  suddenly  found 
themselves  drenched  by  a  hot  sulphur  spring  that  gushed 
violently  from  the  earth,  and  were  obliged  to  retire. 

In  the  legend  alluded  to,  Janus  appears  as  the  protector 
of  the  gates  of  the  city.  As  the  god  who  presided  over 
the  fortunate  entrance  to  and  exit  from  all  houses,  streets, 
and  towns,  Janus  was  held  in  high  honor  among  the  peo- 
ple. His  character  as  guardian  of  gates  and  doors  brought 
him  into  close  connection  with  the  Penates  and  other 
household  gods ;  hence  the  custom  of  erecting  over  the 
doors  an  image  of  the  deity  with  the  well-known  two  faces, 
one  of  which  looked  out  and  the  other  in. 

Janus  had  no  temple,  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word, 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  89 

at  Rome.  His  shrines  consisted  of  gate-Avays  in  common 
places  of  resort  and  at  cross-roads,  or  of  arched  passages, 
in  which  the  image  of  the  god  was  erected.  The  Temple 
of  Janus  in  the  Forum  at  Rome,  which  has  been  already 
alluded  to,  was  a  sanctuary  of  this  kind  closed  with  doors, 
and  was  probably  the  most  ancient  in  the  city.  Its  doors 
stood  open  only  in  time  of  war. 

Roman  art  never  succeeded  in  executing  a  plastic  representation 
peculiar  to  Janus,  the  double  head  being  only  an  imitation  of  the 
Greek  double  Hermae.  In  course  of  time  entire  figures  of  Janus  ap- 
peared, but  these  always  had  a  double  face.  They  were  generally 
bearded,  but  in  later  times  one  face  was  bearded,  the  other  youthful. 
Not  one  specimen  of  these  works  of  art  has  been  preserved,  so  that 
we  only  know  these  forms  from  coins.  The  usual  attributes  of 
Janus  were  keys  and  staff. 

12.  Quirimis. — Quirinus  was  also  a  purely  Roman 
divinity ;  but  having  been  reckoned  among  the  great  dei- 
ties of  heaven,  he  must  therefore  be  mentioned  here.  In 
his  symbolic  meaning  he  bore  a  great  resemblance  to  Mars; 
and  as  Mars  was  the  national  god  of  the  Latin  population 
of  Rome,  so  Quirinus  was  the  national  god  of  the  Sabines 
who  came  to  Rome  with  Titus  Tatius.  Together  with 
Jupiter  and  Mars,  he  formed  the  tutelary  Trinity  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  His  shrine  was  on  the  Quirinal,  which 
was  originally  inhabited  by  the  Sabines,  and  which  was 
named  after  him.  Numa  gave  Quirinus  a  priest  of  his 
own.  He  had  a  special  feast  on  the  17th  of  February,  but 
his  worship  appears  to  have  assimilated  itself  more  and 
more  to  that  of  Mars,  He  was  subsequently  identified 
with  Romulus. 


90 


GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 


B.— SECONDARY  DEITIES. 
1.  Attendant  and  Ministering  Deities. 

1.  Eros  (Amor). — Of  the  deities  who  appear  in  the 
train  of  Aphrodite,  Eros  alone  seems  to  have  enjoyed  di- 
vine honors ;  Longing  and  Desire  being  no  more  than  alle- 


Fig.  23.— Head  of  Eros.    Vatican. 

gorical  figures  typifying  some  of  the  influences  that  ema- 
nate from  the  goddess  of  love.  Eros  was  commonly  re- 
puted the  son  of  Aphrodite  and  Ares,  and  was  generally 
depicted  as  a  boy  of  wondrous  beauty,  on  the  verge  of 
youth.  His  characteristic  weapon  is  a  golden  bow,  with 
which  he  shoots  forth  his  arrows  from  secret  lurking- 
places,  with  an  unfailing  effect  that  represents  the  sweet 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS. 


91 


but  consuming  pangs  of  love.  Zeus  himself  is  represent- 
ed as  unable  to  withstand  his  influence  —  an  intimation 
that  love  is  one  of  the  most  terrible  and  mighty  forces  of 
nature. 

As  unrequited  love  is  aimless,  Anteros  was  conceived  by 


Pig.  24.— Eros  trying  his  bow.    Capitoline  Museum. 

die  imagination  of  the  poets  as  the  brother  and  compan- 
ion of  Eros,  and  consequently  a  son  of  Aphrodite.  As  the 
little  Eros,  says  the  myth,  would  neither  grow  nor  thrive, 
his  mother,  by  the  advice  of  Themis,  gave  him  this  broth- 


92          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

er  as  a  playfellow ;  after  which  the  boy  was  glad  so  long 
as  his  brother  was  with  him,  but  sad  in  his  absence. 

Eros  was  not  only  venerated  as  the  god  who  kindles 
love  between  the  sexes,  but  was  also  regarded  as  the  author 
of  love  and  friendship  between  youths  and  men.  On  this 
account  his  statue  was  generally  placed  in  the  gymnasia 
between  those  of  Hermes  and  Heracles ;  and  the  Spartans 
sacrificed  to  him  before  battle,  binding  themselves  to  hold 
together  faithfully  in  battle,  and  to  stand  by  one  another 
in  the  hour  of  need. 

This  deity  was  termed  by  the  Romans  Amor,  or  Cupido, 
but  this  was  solely  in  imitation  of  the  Greek  Eros,  since 
he  never  enjoyed  among  them  any  public  veneration. 

The  significant  fable  of  the  love  of  Cupid  for  Psyche,  a 
personification  of  the  human  soul,  is  of  comparatively  late 
origin,  though  it  was  a  very  favorite  subject  in  art. 

Artists  followed  the  poets  in  the  delineation  of  Eros,  in  so  far  as 
they  generally  depicted  him  as  a  boy  on  the  confines  of  youth.  An 
Eros  by  the  renowned  artist  Praxiteles  was  esteemed  one  of  the  best 
works  of  antiquity.  It  was  brought  to  Rome  by  Nero,  but  was  de- 
stroyed by  fire  in  the  reign  of  Titus.  In  later  times  the  god  of  love  was 
represented  as  much  younger,  because  the  mischievous  pranks  attrib- 
uted to  him  by  the  poets  were  more  adapted  to  the  age  of  childhood. 

A  considerable  number  of  statues  or  statuettes  of  Eros  have  come 
down  to  us  from  antiquity.  Among  the  most  celebrated  is  the  Torso 
(mutilated  statue)  of  the  Vatican,  of  the  glorious  head  of  which  we 
give  an  engraving  (Fig.  23).  There  is  also  an  "  Eros  trying  his  Bow  " 
(Fig.  24),  in  the  Capitoline  Museum  at  Rome,  and  an  "  Eros  playing 
with  Dice,"  in  the  Berlin  Museum.  Lastly,  there  is  the  celebrated 
group  of  the  Capitoline  Museum,  which  represents  the  embraces  of 
Cupid  and  Psyche. 

Eros  generally  appears  with  wings  in  the  art  monuments  of  antiq- 
uity. His  insignia  are  bow  and  arrows,  in  addition  to  a  burning 
torch.  The  rose  was  held  especially  sacred  to  him,  for  which  reason 
he  often  appears  crowned  with  roses. 

In  connection  with  Venus,  and  in  company  with  Amor,  we  find 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  93 

Hymenaeus,  a  personification  of  the  joys  of  marriage,  who  was,  how- 
ever, only  recognized  by  later  writers  and  by  later  art.  He  is  por- 
trayed as  a  beautiful  youth,  winged  like  Eros,  but  taller,  and  of  a  more 
serious  aspect.  His  indispensable  attribute  is  the  marriage  torch. 

2,  The  Muses. — Pindar  gives  the  following  account 
of  the  origin  of  the  Muses :  After  the  defeat  of  the  Ti- 
tans, the  celestials  besought  Zeus  to  create  some  beings 
who  might  perpetuate  in  song  the  mighty  deeds  of  the 
gods.  In  answer  to  this  prayer,  Zeus  begot  with  Mnemos- 
yne (Memory)  the  nine  Muses.  They  sing  of  the  present, 
the  past,  and  the  future,  while  Apollo's  lute  accompanies 
their  sweet  strains,  which  gladden  the  hearts  of  the  gods 
as  they  sit  assembled  in  the  lofty  palace  of  Father  Zeus,  in 
Olympus.  Looked  at  in  connection  with  nature,  there  is 
little  doubt  but  that  the  Muses  were  originally  nymphs  of 
the  fountains.  The  veneration  of  the  Muses  first  arose  in 
Pieria,  a  district  on  the  eastern  declivity  of  Mount  Olym- 
pus, in  Thessaly,  from  whose  steep  and  rocky  heights  a 
number  of  sweet  rippling  brooks  descend  to  the  plains. 
The  perception  of  this  natural  music  led  at  once  to  a  be- 
lief in  the  existence  of  such  song-loving  goddesses.  Their 
seat  was  subsequently  transferred  from  the  declivities  of 
Olympus  to  Mount  Helicon,  in  Bceotia,  or  to  Mount  Par- 
nassus, at  the  foot  of  which  the  Castalian  fountain,  which 
was  sacred  to  them,  had  its  source.  Originally  the  Muses 
were  only  goddesses  of  song,  though  they  are  sometimes 
represented  with  instruments  on  vases.  In  early  times, 
too,  they  only  appear  as  a  chorus  or  company,  but  at  a 
later  period  separate  functions  were  assigned  to  each,  as 
presiding  over  this  or  that  branch  of  art.  Their  names 
were  Clio,  Melpomene,  Terpsichore,  Polyhymnia,  Thalia, 
Urania,  Euterpe,  Erato,  and  Calliope. 


Pig.  25.— Polyhymnia.    Berlin  Museum. 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  95 

According  to  the  art-distribution  made  probably  at  the  time  of  the 
Alexandrine  school,  Calliope  represents  epic  poetry  and  science  gen- 
erally, her  attributes  being  a  roll  of  parchment  and  a  pen.  Clio  is 
the  muse  of  history,  and  is  likewise  characterized  by  a  roll  and  pen, 
so  that  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  distinguish  her  from  Calliope. 
Euterpe  represents  lyric  poetry,  and  is  distinguished  by  her  double 
flute.  Melpomene,  the  muse  of  tragedy,  generally  appears  with  a 
tragic  mask,  a  club  or  sword,  and  a  garland  of  vine  leaves.  Terp- 
sichore is  the  muse  of  dancing,  and  has  a  lyre  and  plectrum.  To  Er- 
ato is  assigned  erotic  poetry,  together  with  geometry  and  the  mimic 
art ;  she  generally  bears  a  large  stringed  instrument.  Thalia,  the 
muse  of  comedy,  is  distinguished  by  a  comic  mask,  an  ivy  garland, 
and  a  crook.  Polyhymnia  presides  over  the  graver  chant  of  religious 
service ;  she  may  be  recognized  by  her  dress,  wrapped  closely  round 
her,  and  her  grave,  thoughtful  countenance,  but  is  without  attribute 
of  any  kind.  Lastly,  Urania,  the  muse  of  astronomy,  holds  in  one 
hand  a  celestial  globe,  and  in  the  other  a  small  wand. 

Several  European  museums  possess  ancient  groups  of  the  Muses, 
among  which,  perhaps,  the  finest  is  that  preserved  in  the  Vatican. 
From  this  group  are  copied  our  engravings  of  Melpomene  and  Eu- 
terpe  (Figs.  26  and  27).  The  original  of  Polyhymnia  (Fig.  25)  is  in 
the  Berlin  Museum. 

The  Romans  venerated  a  number  of  fountain-nymphs  of 
song  and  prophecy  under  the  name  of  Camense,  among 
whom  the  Egeria  of  the  history  of  Numa  is  well  known. 
The  Roman  writers  seem  to  have  identified  these  god- 
desses with  the  Muses  at  pleasure. 

3.  The  Charites  (G-ratiae) — The  Charites  general- 
ly appear  in  the  train  of  the  goddess  of  love,  whom  it  was 
their  duty  to  clothe  and  adorn.  They  are  often  found, 
however,  in  attendance  on  other  gods,  since  all  that  is 
charming  and  graceful,  either  to  the  senses  or  the  intel- 
lect, was  supposed  to  proceed  from  them. 

Their  names  are  Aglai'a,  Euphrosyne,  and  Thalia.  They 
were  commonly  represented  as  the  daughters  of  Zeus  and 


Fig.  26.— Melpomene.    Vatican. 


Fig.  27.— Euterpe.    Vatican. 

7 


98  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

Eurynorae,  the  Oceanid.  Later  writers,  however,  make 
them  the  daughters  of  Dionysus  and  Aphrodite.  They 
were  venerated  as  the  source  of  all  that  makes  human  life 
more  beautiful  and  pleasant,  without  whom  there  could  be 
no  real  enjoyment  of  life.  Thus,  even  the  gods  would  not 
sit  down  to  banquets  without  the  Charites  ;  and  whenever 
men  came  together  to  feast,  they  first  called  on  them  and 
offered  them  the  first  bowl.  Music,  eloquence,  art,  and  po- 
etry received  the  higher  consecration  only  at  their  hands  ; 
whence  Pindar  terms  his  songs  a  gift  from  them.  Wis- 
dom, bravery,  kindly  benevolence,  and  gratitude — in  fine, 
all  those  qualities  which  become  men  most,  and  make  them 
agreeable  in  the  eyes  of  their  fellow-men — were  supposed 
to  proceed  from  the  Charites. 

The  Graces  of  the  Romans  were  simply  transferred  from 
the  mythology  of  the  Greeks,  and  have,  therefore,  the  same 
meaning  as  the  Charites. 

Art  represented  the  Charites,  or  Graces,  as  blooming  maidens,  of 
slender,  comely  form,  characterized  by  an  expression  of  joyous  inno- 
cence. In  their  hands  they  often  hold  flowers,  either  roses  or  myr- 
tles. They  are  less  often  distinguished  by  definite  attributes  than  by 
a  mutual  intertwining  of  arms.  In  earlier  Greek  art  they  always  ap- 
pear fully  clothed ;  but  gradually  their  clothing  became  less  and  less, 
until  at  length,  in  the  age  of  Scopas  and  Praxiteles,  when  nude  fig- 
ures had  become  common,  it  entirely  disappeared.  There  are,  how- 
ever, few  ancient  statues  of  the  Charites  in  existence. 

4.  Themis  and  the  Horse  (Seasons). —  In  inti- 
mate connection  with  the  Charites  we  find  the  Hora3,  the; 
daughters  of  Zeus  and  Themis.  They  were  generally  rep- 
resented as  three  in  number — Eunomia,  Dice,  and  Irene. 
They  represent  the  regular  march  of  nature  in  the  changes 
of  the  seasons ;  and  Themis,  who  personifies  the  eternal 
laws  of  nature,  and  as  the  daughter  of  Uranus  and 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS. 


99 


ranks  among  the  most  ancient  de- 
ities, is  consequently  their  moth- 
er. Themis  is  the  representative 
of  the  reign  of  law  among  gods 
and  men  ;  at  Zeus's  command  she 
calls  together  the  assemblies  of 
the  gods.  She  also  occupies  a 
similar  position  on  earth,  as  pre- 
siding over  national  assemblies 
and  the  laws  of  hospitality.  Her 
daughters,  the  Horae,  appear  in  a 
similar,  though  in  a  subordinate 
and  attendant,  character.  In  Ho- 
mer they  figure  as  the  servants 
of  Zeus,  who  watch  the  gates  of 
heaven,  now  closing  them  with 
thick  clouds,  now  clearing  the 
clouds  away.  They  also  appear 
as  the  servants  and  attendants 
of  other  divinities,  such  as 
Hera,  Aphrodite,  Apollo,  and 
the  Muses.  Like  their  mother, 
they  preside  over  all  law  and 
order  in  human  affairs ;  and  un- 
der their  protection  thrives  all 
that  is  noble  and  beautiful  and 
good. 

We  know  but  little  concern- 
ing the  worship  of  the  Hone 
among  the  Greeks.  The  Athe- 
nians celebrated  a  special  festi- 
val in  their  honor,  but  they  rec- 


100          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

ognized  only  two — Thallo,  the  season  of  blossom,  and  Car- 
po,  the  season  of  the  ripened  fruit.  The  adoption  of  four 
Horse,  corresponding  to  the  four  seasons  of  the  year,  ap- 
pears to  have  arisen  at  a  later  period. 

In  plastic  art  Themis  is  generally  represented  with  a  balance  in 
one  hand  and  a  palm  branch  in  the  other.  The  Hora  generally  ap- 
pear as  lovely  girls  dancing  with  their  garments  tucked  up,  and 
adorned  with  flowers,  fruit,  and  garlands.  Subsequently  they  were 
distinguished  by  various  attributes,  typical  of  the  different  seasons 
Such  is  the  case  in  the  engraving  (Fig.  28),  after  a  relief  in  the  Villa 
Albani. 

5.  Nice  (Victoria). — Nice  is  nothing  but  a  personi- 
fication of  the  irresistible  and  invincible  power  exercised 
by  the  god  of  heaven  by  means  of  his  lightning.  She  also 
appears  in  the  company  of  Pallas  Athene,  who  was  herself 
honored  by  the  Athenians  as  the  goddess  of  victory.  Vic- 
tory does  not  seem  to  have  had  many  separate  temples  or 
festivals,  since  she  generally  appears  only  in  attendance  on 
her  superior  deities. 

Far  more  extensive  was  the  veneration  of  Victoria  at 
Rome,  a  fact  for  which  the  warlike  character  of  the  peo- 
ple easily  accounts.  Her  chief  shrine  was  on  the  Capitol, 
where  successful  generals  were  wont  to  erect  statues  of  the 
goddess  in  remembrance  of  their  exploits.  The  most  mag 
nificent  statue  of  this  kind  was  one  erected  by  Augustus 
in  fulfilment  of  a  vow  after  his  victory  at  Actium.  The 
proper  festival  of  the  goddess  took  place  on  the  12tb  of 
April. 

In  both  Greek  and  Roman  art,  Victory  was  represented  as  a  winged 
goddess.  She  is  distinguished  by  a  palm  branch  and  laurel  gar- 
land, which  were  the  customary  rewards  of  bravery  among  the  an- 
cients. Large  statues  of  the  goddess  are  seldom  met  with,  though 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS. 


101 


Pag.  29.— Victoria.    United  Collections  in  Munich. 

»he  is  often  depicted  on  vases,  coins,  and  small  bronzes.  The  mu- 
seum of  Cassel  has  a  small  bronze  statue  of  the  goddess,  while  a 
fine  alto-rilievo  in  terra-cotta  exists  in  the  Royal  Collection  at  Mu- 
nich (Fig.  29). 

6.  (Iris). — Iris  was  originally  a  personification  of  the 
rainbow,  but  she  was  afterward  converted  into  the  swift 
messenger  of  the  gods,  the  rainbow  being,  as  it  were,  a 


102          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

bridge  between  earth,  and  heaven.  In  this  character  she 
makes  her  appearance  in  Homer,  but,  later  still,  she  was 
again  transformed  into  a  special  attendant  of  Hera.  Her 
swiftness  was  astounding.  "  Like  hail  or  snow,"  says  Ho- 
mer, "  that  falls  from  the  clouds,"  she  darts  from  one  end 
of  the  world  to  the  other — nay,  dives  to  the  hidden  depths 
of  the  ocean  and  into  the  recesses  of  the  lower  world,  ex- 
ecuting the  commands  of  the  gods. 

In  art  Iris  was  represented  with  wings,  like  Nice,  to  whom  she,  in 
many  respects,  bears  a  strong  resemblance.  She  may  be  distinguish- 
ed from  the  latter,  however,  by  her  herald's  staff  (caduceus).  A  very 
much  injured  specimen,  from  the  east  pediment  of  the  Parthenon  at 
Athens,  is  now  preserved  in  the  British  Museum. 

7.  Hebe  (Juventas).  —  Hebe  was  the  daughter  of 
Zeus  and  Hera,  and,  according  to  her  natural  interpretation, 
represented  the  youthful  bloom  of  nature.  In  the  fully 
developed  mythology  of  the  Greeks  she  appears  as  the 
cup-bearer  of  the.  gods,  to  whom,  at  meals,  she  presents  the 
sweet  nectar.  It  may  at  first  seem  strange  that  the  daugh- 
ter of  the  greatest  of  the  divinities  of  Greece  should  be 
relegated  to  so  inferior  a  position.  This,  however,  is  easily 
explained  by  the  old  patriarchal  custom  of  the  Greeks,  by 
which  the  young  unmarried  daughters,  even  in  royal  pal- 
aces, waited  at  table  on  the  men  of  the  family  and  the 
guests. 

In  post-Homeric  poetry  and  legend  Hebe  no  longer  ap 
pears  as  cup-bearer  of  the  gods,  the  office  having  been  asr 
signed  to  Ganymedes.  This  was  either  in  consequence  ol 
the  promotion  of  the  son  of  the  King  of  Troy,  or  on  ac 
count  of  Hebe's  marriage  with  the  deified  Heracles. 

Hebe  occupies  no  important  place  in  the  religious  sys- 
tem of  the  Greeks ;  she  seems  to  have  been  chiefly  hon 


Fig.  30.— Hebe.    From  Antonio  Canova. 


104  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

ored  in  connection  with  her  mother  Hera,  or  now  and  then 
with  Heracles. 

Juventas,  or  Juventus,  is  the  corresponding  deity  of  the 
Romans ;  but,  as  was  the  case  with  so  many  others,  they 
contrived  to  bring  her  into  a  more  intimate  connection 
with  their  political  life  by  honoring  in  her  the  undying 
and  unfading  vigor  of  the  State.  She  had  a  separate 
chapel  in  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus. 

With  regard  to  the  artistic  representation  of  Hebe,  statues  of  this 
goddess  appear  to  have  been  very  rare  in  ancient  times ;  at  least, 
among  all  the  numerous  statues  that  have  been  discovered,  none  can 
be  safely  identified  with  Hebe.  She  is  the  more  often  met  with  on 
ornamental  vases  and  reliefs,  on  which  the  marriage  of  Heracles  and 
Hebe  is  a  favorite  subject.  She  is  usually  depicted  as  a  highly  grace- 
ful, modest  maiden,  pouring  out  nectar  from  an  upraised  vessel.  She 
appears  thus  in  the  world-renowned  masterpiece  of  the  Italian  sculp- 
tor Canova,  so  well  known  from  casts.  In  default  of  an  ancient 
statue,  we  give  an  engraving  of  this  work  (Fig.  30). 

8.  (G-anymed.es). — A  similar  office  in  Olympus  was 
filled  by  the  son  of  Tros,  the  King  of  Troy,  Ganymedes, 
who  was  made  immortal  by  Zeus,  and  installed  as  cup- 
bearer of  the  gods.  Neither  Homer  nor  Pindar,  however, 
relates  the  episode  of  Zeus  sending  his  eagle  to  carry  off 
Ganymedes.  This  feature  of  the  story,  which  is  a  favorite 
subject  of  artistic  representation,  is  first  found  in  Apollo- 
dorus.  The  Roman  poet,  Ovid,  then  went  a  step  farther, 
and  made  the  ruler  of  Olympus  transform  himself  into  an 
eagle,  in  order  to  carry  off  his  favorite. 

The  rape  of  the  beautiful  boy  is  often  portrayed  in  ancient  art. 
The  most  famous  monument  is  a  bronze  group  of  Leochares,  an  ar- 
tist who  flourished  in  the  fourth  century  B.C.  A  copy  of  it  still  exists 
in  the  celebrated  statue  of  Ganymedes  in  the  Vatican  collection.  In 
modern  art  the  story  has  been  treated  with  still  greater  frequency. 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS. 


105 


Fig.  31.— Ganymedes  and  the  Eagle.    From  Thorwaldsen. 

There  is  an  extremely  beautiful  group  of  this  kind  by  Thorwaldsen, 
in  which  Ganymedes  is  represented  as  giving  the  eagle  drink  out  of 
a  bowl  (Fig.  31). 

2.  The  Phenomena  of  the  Heavens. 

1.  Helios  (Sol).  —  Helios  (Latin,  Sol),  ike  sun -god, 
belongs  to  that  small  class  of  deities  who  have  preserved 
their  physical  meaning  intact  throughout.  His  worship 
undoubtedly  came  to  Greece  from  Asia ;  it  was  confined  to 
a  few  places,  the  most  important  of  which  was  the  island 
of  Rhodes.  An  annual  festival,  attended  with  musical  and 
athletic  contests,  was  here  celebrated  with  great  pomp  in 
honor  of  the  sun-god.  He  is  portrayed  by  the  poets  as 
a  handsome  youth  with  flashing  eyes  and  shining  hair  cov- 


106          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

ered  with  a  golden  helmet.  His  daily  office  was  to  bring 
the  light  of  day  to  gods  and  men,  which  he  performed  by 
rising  from  Oceanus  in  the  east,  where  the  Ethiopians  live, 
and  completing  his  course  along  the  firmament.  For  this 
purpose  the  post-Homeric  poets  endow  him  with  a  sun- 
chariot  drawn  by  four  fiery  horses ;  and  though  Homer 
and  Hesiod  do  not  attempt  to  explain  how  he  passed  from 
the  west,  where  he  sets,  to  the  east,  where  he  rises,  later  po- 
ets obviate  the  difficulty  by  making  him  sail  round  half  the 
earth  in  a  golden  boat  (according  to  others,  a  golden  bed) ; 
and  thus  he  was  supposed  again  to  arrive  at  the  east.  In 
the  far  west  Helios  had  a  splendid  palace,  and  also  a  cele- 
brated garden,  which  was  under  the  charge  of  the  Hesper- 
ides.  He  is  described  as  the  son  of  the  Titans  Hyperion 
and  Thea,  whence  he  himself  is  called  a  Titan.  By  his 
wife  Perse,  a  daughter  of  Oceanus,  he  became  the  father  of 
^Eetes,  King  of  Colchis,  celebrated  in  the  legend  of  the  Ar- 
gonauts, and  of  the  still  more  celebrated  sorceress  Circe. 
Another  son  of  Helios  was  Phaethon,  who,  in  attempting 
to  drive  his  father's  horses,  came  to  an  untimely  end. 

Helios  sees  and  hears  everything  ;  whence  he  was  be- 
lieved to  bring  hidden  crimes  to  light,  and  was  invoked  as 
a  witness  at  all  solemn  declarations  and  oaths. 

All  the  stories  relating  to  Helios  were  gradually  trans- 
ferred to  the  Roman  Sol,  who  was  originally  a  Sabine  deity, 
chiefly  by  means  of  the  "  Metamorphoses  "  of  Ovid.  The 
untiring  charioteer  of  the  heavens  was  also  honored  as  the 
patron  of  the  race-course ;  but  he  never  attained  a  promi- 
nent position  in  religious  worship. 

Helios,  or  Sol,  is  depicted  as  a  handsome  youth,  his  head  encircled 
by  a  crown,  which  gives  forth  twelve  bright  rays  corresponding  to 
the  number  of  the  months,  his  mantle  flying  about  his  shoulders 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  10V 

as  he  stands  in  his  chariot.  It  was  chiefly  in  Rhodes,  however,  that 
Helios  was  made  the  subject  of  the  sculptor's  art.  Here,  in  280 
B.C.,  was  erected  in  his  honor  the  celebrated  colossal  statue  which 
has  acquired  a  world-wide  celebrity  under  the  name  of  the  Colossus 
of  Rhodes,  and  which  was  reckoned  as  one  of  the  "  seven  wonders 
of  the  world."  It  was  the  work  of  Chares  of  Lindus,  and  was  105 
f.vet  in  height. 

2.  Selene  (Luna). — As  Artemis  is  the  twin  sister  of 
Apollo,  so  is  Selene  the  twin  sister  of  Helios ;  he  represent- 
ing the  sun,  she  the  moon.  Selene,  however,  never  really 
enjoyed  divine  honors  in  Greece.  The  poets  depict  her  as 
a  white-armed  goddess,  whose  beautiful  tresses  are  crowned 
with  a  brilliant  diadem.  In  the  evening  she  rises  from  the 
sacred  river  of  Oceanus,  and  pursues  her  course  along  the 
firmament  of  heaven  in  her  chariot,  drawn  by  two  white 
horses.  She  is  gentle  and  timid,  and  it  is  only  in  secret 
that  she  loves  beautiful  youths  and  kisses  them  in  sleep. 
Poets  delight  to  sing  of  the  secret  love  she  cherished  for 
the  beautiful  Endymion,  the  son  of  the  King  of  Elis.  She 
caused  him  to  fall  into  an  eternal  sleep,  and  he  now  reposes 
in  a  rocky  grotto  on  Mount  Latmus,  where  Selene  nightly 
visits  him,  and  gazes  with  rapture  on  his  countenance. 

In  later  times  she  was  often  confounded  with  Artemis, 
Hecate,  and  Persephone.  The  same  remarks  apply  to  the 
Roman  Luna.  The  latter,  however,  had  a  temple  of  her 
own  on  the  Aventine,  which  was  supposed  to  have  been 
dedicated  to  her  by  Servius  Tullius.  Like  her  brother  Sol, 
she  was  honored  in  Rome  in  connection  with  the  circus, 
and  was  held  to  preside  over  the  public  games. 

In  sculpture,  Selene,  or  Luna,  may  be  recognized  by  the  half -moon 
on  her  forehead,  and  by  the  veil  over  the  back  of  her  head  ;  she  also 
bears  in  her  hand  a  torch.  The  sleeping  Endymion  was  a  frequent 
subject  of  representation  on  sarcophagi  and  monuments. 


108  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

3.  Eos  (Aurora).— Eos,  the  goddess  of  the  dawn,  was 
also  a  daughter  of  Hyperion  and  Thea,  and  a  sister  of  Se- 
lene and  Helios.  She  was  first  married  to  the  Titan  Astrse- 
us,  by  whom  she  became  the  mother  of  the  winds — Boreas, 
Zephyrus,  Eurus,  and  Notus  (north,  west,  east,  and  south 
winds).  This  is  a  mythological  mode  of  intimating  the 
fact  that  the  wind  generally  rises  at  dawn.  After  Astrseus, 
who,  like  most  of  the  Titans,  had  rebelled  against  the  sov- 
ereignty of  Zeus,  and  had  been  cast  into  Tartarus,  Eos 
chose  the  handsome  hunter  Orion  for  her  husband.  The 
gods,  however,  would  not  consent  to  their  union,  and  Orion 
was  slain  by  the  arrows  of  Artemis,  after  which  Eos  mar- 
ried Tithonus,  the  son  of  the  King  of  Troy.  She  begged 
Zeus  to  bestow  on  him  immortality,  but,  having  forgotten 
to  ask  for  eternal  youth,  the  gift  was  of  doubtful  value, 
since  Tithonus  at  last  became  a  shrivelled-up,  decrepit  old 
man,  in  whom  the  goddess  took  no  pleasure. 

Memnon,  King  of  ^Ethiopia,  celebrated  in  the  story  of 
the  Trojan  war,  was  a  son  of  Eos  and  Tithonus.  He 
came  to  the  assistance  of  Troy,  and  was  slain  by  Achilles. 
Since  then,  Eos  has  wept  without  ceasing  for  her  dar- 
ling son,  and  her  tears  fall  to  the  earth  in  the  shape  of 
dew. 

Eos  is  represented  by  the  poets  as  a  glorious  goddess, 
with  beautiful  hair,  rosy  arms  and  fingers — a  true  picture 
of  the  invigorating  freshness  of  the  early  morning.  Cheer- 
ful and  active,  she  rises  early  from  her  couch,  and,  envel- 
oped in  a  saffron  colored  mantle,  she  harnesses  her  horses, 
Lampus  and  Phaethon  (Brightness  and  Lustre),  in  order 
that  she  may  hasten  on  in  front  of  the  sun-god  and  an- 
nounce the  day. 

The  views  and  fables  connected  with  Eos  were  trans* 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  109 

ferred  by  the  Koman  writers  to  the  person  of  their  god- 
dess Aurora*  without  undergoing  any  alteration. 

Representations  of  this  goddess  are  found  now  and  then  on  vases 
and  gems.  She  either  appears  driving  a  chariot  and  four  horses, 
as  harnessing  the  steeds  of  Helios,  or  as  gliding  through  the  air  on 
wings  and  sprinkling  the  earth  with  her  dew. 

4.  The  Stars.— Only  a  few  of  the  stars  are  of  any 
importance  in  mythology.  Phosphorus  and  Hesperus,  the 
morning -star  and  the  evening  -  star,  which  were  formerly 
regarded  as  two  distinct  beings,  were  represented  in  art  in 
the  guise  of  beautiful  boys  with  torches  in  their  hands. 
There  were  also  several  legends  relating  to  Orion,  whom 
we  have  already  alluded  to  as  the  husband  of  Eos.  He 
himself  was  made  a  constellation  after  having  been  slain 
by  the  arrows  of  Artemis,  while  his  dog  was  Sirius,  whose 
rising  announces  the  hottest  season  of  the  year.  All  kinds 
of  myths  were  invented  about  other  constellations  ;  among 
others,  the  Hyades,  whose  rising  betokened  the  advent  of 
the  stormy,  rainy  season,  during  which  the  sailor  avoids 
going  to  sea.  The  story  went  that  they  were  placed 
among  the  constellations  by  the  gods  out  of  pity,  because 
they  were  inconsolable  at  the  death  of  their  brother  Hyas, 
who  was  killed  by  a  lion  while  hunting.  Connected  with 
them  are  the  Pleiades,  i.  e.,  the  stars  of  mariners,  so  called 
because  on  their  rising  in  May  the  favorable  season  for 

*  The  Mater  Matuta  of  the  Romans  was  a  deity  very  similar  to  the 
Eos  of  the  Greeks.  She  was  the  goddess  of  the  early  dawn,  and  was 
held  in  high  estimation  among  the  Roman  women  as  a  deity  who  as- 
sisted them  in  childbirth.  Like  the  Greek  Leucothca,  she  was  also 
regarded  as  a  goddess  of  the  sea  and  harbors,  who  assisted  those  in 
peril. 


J10          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

voyages  begins.  They  were  seven  in  number,  and  were 
likewise  set  in  the  heavens  by  the  gods.  Finally,  we  must 
not  forget  to  mention  Arctus,  the  Bear.  Tradition  assert- 
ed that  this  was  none  other  than  the  Arcadian  nymph 
Callisto,  who  had  been  placed  among  the  constellations  by 
Zeus  when  slain  in  the  form  of  a  she -bear  by  Artemis. 
She  had  broken  her  vows  of  chastity,  and  borne  a  son, 
Areas,  to  Zeus. 

5.  The  "Winds. — The  four  chief  winds  have  been  al- 
ready alluded  to  as  the  sons  of  Eos.  They  were  especially 
venerated  by  those  about  to  make  voyages,  who  then  so- 
licited their  favor  with  prayers  and  offerings.  Otherwise, 
they  maintained  their  character  of  pure  natural  forces,  and 
were,  consequently,  of  little  importance  in  mythology. 
The  rude  north  wind,  Boreas,  or  Aquilo,  was  especially 
dreaded  on  account  of  his  stormy  violence,  and  was  hence 
regarded  as  a  bold  ravisher  of  maidens.  Thus  an  Attic  le- 
gend asserts  that  he  carried  off  Orithyia,  the  daughter  of 
Erechtheus,  as  she  was  playing  on  the  banks  of  the  Ilissus. 
She  bore  him  Calais  and  Zetes,  well  known  in  the  story  of 
the  Argonauts.  Boreas,  however,  stood  in  high  favor 
among  the  Athenians,  who  erected  an  altar  and  chapel  to 
him,  because,  during  the  Persian  War,  he  had  partially  de- 
stroyed the  fleet  of  Xerxes  off  Cape  Sepias. 

As  Boreas  is  the  god  of  the  winter  storm,  so  Zephyrus 
appears  as  the  welcome  messenger  of  spring ;  on  which  ac- 
count one  of  the  Horse  was  given  him  to  wife.  Zeph- 
yrus was  called  Favonius  by  the  Romans,  to  intimate  the 
favorable  influence  he  exercised  on  the  prosperous  growth 
of  the  vegetable  world. 

These,  together  with  the  other  chief  winds,  Notus  (south 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  Ill 

wind)  and  Eurus  (east  wind),  were  sometimes  said  to  reside 
in  separate  places ;  at  other  times  they  were  said  to  dwell 
together  in  the  Wind-mountain,  on  the  fabulous  island  of 
./Eolia,  where  they  were  ruled  over  by  King  yEolus. 

3.  Gods  of  Birth  and  Healing. 

1.  Asclepius  (^Esculapius).— It  was  only  in  latei 
times  that  the  necessity  of  having  special  gods  of  birth 
and  healing  made  itself  felt ;  at  all  events,  Asclepius,  or 
./Esculapius,  as  he  is  called  by  the  Romans,  does  not  ap- 
pear as  a  god  in  Homer.  The  worship  of  this  deity,  who 
was  said  to  be  the  son  of  Apollo,  appears  to  have  origi- 
nated in  Epidaurus,  the  seat  of  his  principal  shrine,  and 
thence  to  have  become  generally  diffused.  In  Epidaurus 
his  priests  erected  a  large  hospital,  which  enjoyed  a  great 
reputation.  The  common  method  of  cure  consisted  in  al- 
lowing those  who  were  sick  to  sleep  in  the  temple,  on 
which  occasion,  if  they  had  been  zealous  in  their  prayers 
and  offerings,  the  god  appeared  to  them  in  a  dream  and 
discovered  the  necessary  remedy. 

The  worship  of  this  deity  was  introduced  into  Rome  in 
the  year  291  B.C.,  in  consequence  of  a  severe  pestilence 
which  for  years  had  depopulated  town  and  country.  The 
Sibylline  books  were  consulted,  and  they  recommended 
that  Asclepius  of  Epidaurus  should  be  brought  to  Rome. 
The  story  goes  that  the  sacred  serpent  of  the  god  follow 
ed  the  Roman  ambassadors  of  its  own  accord,  and  chose 
for  its  abode  the  Insula  Tiberina  at  Rome,  where  a  temple 
was  at  once  erected  to  ^Esculapius.  A  gilded  statue  was 
added  to  the  temple  in  the  year  13  B.C.  The  method 
already  mentioned  of  sleeping  in  the  temple  was  also 
adopted  here. 


Fig.  32. — Asclepius.    Berlin. 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS. 


113 


In  art,  Asclcpius  is  represented  as  a  bearded  man  of  ripe  years, 
with  singularly  noble  features,  from  which  the  kindly  benevolence  of 
a  benefactor  of  mankind  looks  forth.  He  is  generally  accompanied 
by  a  serpent,  as  a  symbol  of  self- 
renovating  vital  power,  which  he 
is  feeding  and  caressing,  or  which 
is  more  commonly  represented 
as  creeping  up  his  staff.  Such  is 
the  conception  in  the  engraving 
(Fig.  32),  which  is  after  a  statue 
preserved  at  Berlin.  As  the  god 
of  healing,  he  has  also  other  at- 
tributes— a  bowl  containing  the 
healing  draught,  a  bunch  .of 
herbs,  a  pine -apple,  or  a  dog; 
the  latter  being  a  symbol  of  the 
vigilance  with  which  the  physi- 
cian watches  disease. 

There  are  numerous  extant 
statues  of  the  god,  although  the 
great  statue  in  gold  and  ivory  of 
the  temple  at  Epidaurus  has  been 
entirely  lost.  A  fine  head  of  co- 
lossal proportions  was  discovered 
on  the  Isle  of  Melos,  and  is  now 
an  ornament  of  the  British  Mu- 
seum (Fig.  33.)  There  is,  on  the  other  hand,  a  very  fine  statue  without 
a  head  in  existence  at  Athens,  near  the  temple  of  Zeus.  There  are, 
moreover,  celebrated  statues  in  Florence,  Paris,  and  Rome  (Vatican) ; 
in  the  last  case,  of  a  beardless  ./Esculapius. 

2.  Inferior  Deities  of  Birth  and  Healing.— The 
Greeks  also  honored  Ilithyia  as  a  goddess  of  birth.  This 
appears  to  have  been  originally  a  surname  of  Hera,  as 
a  deity  who  succored  women  in  childbirth.  Hygiea  was 
looked  on  as  a  goddess  of  health,  and  was  described  as  a 
daughter  of  Asclepius. 

The  Romans  had  no  need  of  a  special  goddess  presiding 
over  birth,  although  they  honored  a  deity  often  identified 


Fig.  33.— Head  of  Asclepius. 
Museum. 


114         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

with  Hygiea,  whom  they  called  Strenia,  or  Salus.  Aa 
guardian  of  the  chamber  of  birth,  they  honored  Carna,  or 
Cardea,  who  was  supposed  to  drive  away  the  evil  Striges 
(screech-owls)  that  came  at  night  to  suck  the  blood  of  the 
new-born  child.  Carna  was  further  regarded  as  the  pro- 
tectress of  physical  health.  Another  of  these  inferior  dei- 
ties, of  whom  men  sought  long  life  and  continued  health, 
bore  the  name  of  Anna  Perenna  (the  circling  year). 

4.  Deities  of  Fate. 

1.  Moerae  (Parcae). — The  Mcera,  better  known  by 
the  Latin  name  of  Parca3,  really  denote  that  portion  of  a 
man's  life  and  fortune  which  is  determined  from  his  birth  ; 
so  that,  in  this  sense,  there  are  as  many  Hoarse  as  individ- 
uals. The  Greeks,  however,  who  were  wont  to  revere  all 
such  indefinite  numbers  under  the  sacred  number  three, 
generally  recognized  three.  These  they  regarded  as  the 
dark  and  inexplicable  powers  of  fate,  daughters  of  the 
night.  Their  names  were  Clotho  (spinster),  Lachesis  (al- 
lotter),  and  Atropos  (inevitable). 

Only  two  Parcae  were  originally  known  to  the  Romans, 
but  a  third  was  afterward  added,  to  make  their  own  my- 
thology harmonize  with  that  of  the  Greeks. 

The  popular  conception  of  the  Parcae  as  grave  hoary  women  was 
not  followed  in  art,  where  they  always  appear  as  young.  In  the  first 
instance,  their  attributes  were  all  alike,  separate  functions  not  yet 
having  been  allotted  to  them.  But  at  a  subsequent  period  it  was 
Clotho  who  spun,  Lachesis  who  held,  and  Atropos  who  cut,  the  thread 
of  life.  This  arrangement  was  first  adopted  by  later  artists,  who 
generally  give  Clotho  a  spindle,  Lachesis  a  roll  of  parchment,  and 
Atropos  a  balance,  or  let  the  last  point  to  the  hour  of  death  on  a 
dial.  Such  is  the  case  in  a  talented  creation  of  Carstens,  in  which 
the  conception  of  modern  times  is  brought  into  harmony  with  the 
ideal  of  antiquity  (Fig.  84). 


116         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

2.  Nemesis,  Tyche  (Fortuna),  and  Agathodae- 
mon  (Bonus  Eventus).  —  Nemesis  really  denotes  the 
apportionment  of  that  fate  which  is  justly  deserved,  and  a 
consequent  repugnance  to  that  which  is  not.  Homer  does 
not  acknowledge  Nemesis  as  a  goddess,  and  so  it  is  proba- 
>  ble  that  her  claim  to  public  veneration  dates  from  a  later 
period.  She  was  regarded  as  a  goddess  of  equality,  who 
watches  over  the  equilibrium  of  the  moral  universe,  and 
sees  that  happiness  and  misfortune  are  allotted  to  man  ac< 
cording  to  merit.  Hence  arose,  subsequently,  the  idea  of 
an  avenging  deity,  who  visits  with  condign  punishment  the 
crimes  and  wickedness  of  mankind.  In  this  character  she 
resembles  the  Furies.  The  Romans  likewise  introduced 
Nemesis  into  their  system ;  at  least  her  statue  stood  on 
the  Capitol,  though  popular  superstition  never  regarded 
her  with  a  friendly  eye. 

The  various  conceptions  of  Nemesis  are  again  displayed  in  works 
of  art.  The  kindly,  gentle  goddess,  who  dispenses  what  is  just,  is 
depicted  as  a  young  woman  of  grave  and  thoughtful  aspect,  holding 
\n  her  hand  the  instruments  of  measurement  and  control  (cubit, 
bridle,  and  rudder).  As  the  stern  avenger  of  human  crimes,  she  ap- 
pears with  wings  in  a  chariot  drawn  by  griffins,  with  a  sword  or  whip 
in  her  hand. 

Tyche,  the  goddess  of  good  fortune,  was,  according  to 
common  accounts,  the  daughter  of  Oceanus  and  Tethys. 
She  was  usually  honored  as  the  tutelary  deity  of  towns, 
and  as  such  had  temples  and  statues  in  many  populous 
cities  of  Greece  and  Asia.  In  course  of  time,  however, 
che  idea  gained  ground  that  Tyche  was  the  author  of  evil 
as  well  as  of  good  fortune.  She  resembled,  in  this  respect, 
the  Fortuna  of  the  Romans,  who  was  regarded  as  the  source 
of  all  that  is  unexpected  in  human  life.  Servius  Tullius 
was  said  to  have  introduced  into  Rome  the  worship  of 


THE    GODS    OF    OLYMPUS.  ILi 

Fortuna,  whose  favorite  he  had  certainly  every  reason  to 
regard  himself.  He  erected  a  temple  to  her  under  the 
name  of  Fors  Fortuna,  and  made  the  24th  of  June  the  com- 
mon festival  of  the  goddess.  Later,  her  worship  became  still 
more  extensive.  Under  the  most  different  surnames,  some 
of  which  referred  to  the  State  (Fortuna  populi  Romani], 
and  others  to  every  description  of  private  affairs,  she  had  a 
great  number  of  temples  and  chapels  erected  in  her  honor. 
She  had  also  celebrated  temples  in  Antium  and  Prameste. 

Ancient  artists  endowed  this  goddess  with  various  attributes,  the 
most  important  of  which  was  the  rudder,  which  she  held  in  her  hand 
in  token  of  her  power  to  control  the  fortunes  of  mankind.  She  is 
also  endowed  with  a  sceptre  for  the  same  purpose,  and  with  a  horn 
of  plenty  as  the  giver  of  goo \  fortune ;  sometimes  she  is  also  repre- 
sented with  the  youthful  Plutus  in  her  arms.  The  later  conception 
of  an  impartial  goddess  of  fate  is  apparent  in  those  art-monuments 
which  depict  her  standing  on  a  ball  or  wheel.  Among  the  larger 
existing  works,  we  may  mention  a  copy  preserved  in  the  Vatican  of 
a  Tyche  by  Eutychides  of  Sicyon,  which  was  formerly  exhibited  in 
Antioch.  The  goddess  here  wears  a  mural  crown  on  her  head  as  the 
tutelary  deity  of  towns,  and  has  a  sheaf  of  corn  in  her  right  hand. 

Besides  Fortuna,  the  Romans  honored  a  deity  called  Fe- 
licitas  as  the  goddess  of  positive  good  fortune.  Lucullus 
is  said  to  have  erected  a  temple  to  her  in  Rome,  which  was 
adorned  with  the  works  of  art  brought  by  Mummius  from 
the  spoils  of  Corinth.  Even  this  did  not  suffice  for  the  re- 
ligious needs  of  the  people,  and  we  find  that  the  belief  in 
personal  protecting  deities  grew  rapidly  among  both  Greeks 
and  Romans.  These  deities  were  termed  by  the  Greeks 
"  dfemones,"  and  by  the  Romans  "  genii."  They  were  be- 
lieved to  be  the  invisible  counsellors  of  every  individual, 
accompanying  him  from  birth  to  death,  through  all  the 
stages  of  life,  with  advice  and  comfort.  Offerings  of  wine, 
cake,  incense,  and  garlands  were  made  to  them,  particularly 
on  birthdays. 


118  GREEK    AND    KOMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 


II.— THE  GODS  OF  THE  SEA  AND  WATERS. 

1.  Poseidon  (Neptunus). — Poseidon,  or  Neptunus, 
as  he  was  called  by  the  Romans,  was  the  son  of  Cronus 
and  Rhea.  Homer  calls  him  the  younger  brother  of  Zeus, 
in  which  case  his  subjection  to  the  latter  is  only  natural. 
According  to  the  common  account,  however,  Zeus  was  the 
youngest  of  the  sons  of  Cronus,  but  acquired  the  sovereign- 
ty over  his  brothers  by  having  overthrown  their  cruel  fa- 
ther. Poseidon  was  accordingly  indebted  to  his  brother  for 
his  dominion  over  the  sea  and  its  deities,  and  was  therefore 
subject  to  him.  He  usually  dwelt,  not  in  Olympus,  but  at 
the  bottom  of  the  sea.  Here  he  was  supposed  to  inhabit, 
with  Amphitrite,  his  wife,  a  magnificent  golden  palace  in 
the  neighborhood  of  ^Egae.  Originally,  like  Oceanus  and 
Pontus,  he  was  a  mere  symbol  of  the  watery  element,  but 
he  afterward  attained  an  entirely  independent  personality. 
Even  in  Homer  he  no  longer  appears  as  the  sea  itself,  but 
as  its  mighty  ruler,  who  with  his  powerful  arms  upholds 
and  circumscribes  the  earth.  He  is  violent  and  impetuous, 
like  the  element  he  represents.  When  he  strikes  the  sea 
with  his  trident,  the  symbol  of  his  sovereignty,  the  waves 
rise  with  violence,  dash  in  pieces  the  ships,  and  inundate 
the  land  far  and  wide.  Poseidon  likewise  possesses  the 
power  of  producing  earthquakes,  cleaving  rocks,  and  rais- 
ing islands  in  the  midst  of  the  sea.  On  the  other  hand,  a 
word  or  look  from  him  suffices  to  allay  the  wildest  tem- 
pest. Virgil,  in  the  first  book  of  the  "yEneid,"  has  given 
a  beautiful  description  of  the  taming  of  the  fierce  elements 
by  the  god. 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  SEA  AND  WATERS.       119 

Poseidon  was  naturally  regarded  as  the  chief  god  of  all 
the  seafaring  classes,  such  as  fishermen,  boatmen,  and  sail- 
ors, who  esteemed  him  as  their  patron  and  tutelary  deity. 
To  him  they  addressed  their  prayers  before  entering  on  a 
voyage ;  to  him  they  brought  their  offerings  in  gratitude 
for  their  safe  return  from  the  perils  of  the  deep. 

Poseidon,  therefore,  enjoyed  the  highest  reputation 
among  the  seafaring  lonians.  His  temples,  altars,  and 
statues  were  most  numerous  in  the  harbors  and  seapoit 
towns,  and  on  islands  and  promontories.  Among  the  nu- 
merous shrines  of  this  deity  we  may  mention  that  of 
Corinth,  in  the  neighborhood  of  which  were  celebrated  in 
his  honor  the  Isthmian  games,  which  subsequently  became 
a  national  festival  in  Greece,  Pylus,  Athens,  and  the  islands 
of  Rhodes,  Cos,  and  Tenos. 

It  was  only  natural  that  many  legends,  local  and  provin- 
cial, should  exist  about  a  god  who  played  such  an  impor- 
tant part  in  the  lives  of  seafaring  folk.  In  the  Trojan  epos 
he  figures  as  a  violent  enemy  of  Troy,  his  indignation  hav- 
ing been  provoked  by  the  injustice  of  the  Trojan  king, 
Laomedon.  Poseidon  had  built  the  walls  of  Troy,  at  the 
king's  request,  with  the  aid  of  Apollo  ;  but  Laomedon  hav- 
ing cheated  him  in  the  matter  of  the  stipulated  reward, 
Poseidon  thereupon  sent  a  terrible  sea-monster,  which  laid 
waste  the  crops  and  slew  the  inhabitants.  They  had  re- 
course to  the  oracle,  which  counselled  the  sacrifice  of  the 
king's  daughter,  Hesione.  The  unhappy  maiden  was  ex- 
posed to  the  monster,  but  was  rescued  by  Heracles.  The 
fable  of  this  monster,  which  is  manifestly  a  symbol  of  the 
inundation  of  the  sea,  is  repeated  in  many  succeeding  sto- 
ries (e.  </.,  in  the  story  of  Perseus,  who  rescued  in  a  similar 
way  Andromeda,  the  daughter  of  the  King  of  /Ethiopia). 


120         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

There  are  numberless  stories  in  which  Poseidon  appears 
as  the  father  of  the  different  national  heroes.  The  most 
important  is,  perhaps,  the  legend  of  Theseus,  of  which  we 
shall  speak  later  on.  There  was  scarcely  a  Grecian  town 
or  district  which  did  not  lay  claim  to  divine  origin  for  the 
person  of  its  founder  or  ancestral  hero.  Again,  the  con- 
ception of  the  wild  stormy  nature  of  the  sea  caused  Posei- 
don to  be  represented  as  the  father  of  various  giants  and 
monsters.  By  the  nymph  Thoosa  he  became  the  father  of 
the  savage  Polyphemus,  slain  by  Odysseus,  who  thus  pro- 
voked the  implacable  enmity  of  Poseidon.  The  giant  An- 
taeus, who  fought  with  Heracles,  was  also  said  to  be  a  son 
of  Poseidon,  besides  many  other  monsters,  such  as  Pro- 
crustes, Cercyon,  and  the  Aloi'dse. 

The  favorite  animal  of  Poseidon  was  the  horse,  which 
he  was  supposed  to  have  created.  This  may,  perhaps,  b« 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  imagination  of  the  Greeks  pict- 
ured to  itself  the  horses  of  Poseidon  in  the  rolling  and 
bounding  waves.  In  Athens  the  origin  of  the  horse  was 
referred  to  the  contest  between  Athene  and  Poseidon,  as 
to  who  should  make  the  land  the  most  useful  present. 
In  Corinthian  legend  Poseidon  appears  as  the  father  of 
the  winged  horse  Pegasus  by  Medusa.  This  story  is  con- 
nected with  the  taming  of  the  horse,  which  was  as- 
cribed to  Poseidon.  On  account  of  his  intimate  con- 
nection with  the  horse,  Poseidon  was  especially  regarded 
as  the  patron  of  the  games,  and  had,  in  consequence,  an 
altar  of  his  own  on  all  race-courses.  The  competitors,  be- 
fore the  races,  solicited  his  favor  with  prayers  and  sacri- 
fices. 

The  dolphin  and  the  pine-tree  were  held  sacred  to  Po- 
seidon, the  latter  probably  because  it  was  so  extensively 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  SEA  AND  WATERS.       121 

used  in  ship-building.     Black  steers,  horses,  rams,  and  wild 
boars  were  sacrificed  to  him. 

The  Romans  not  being  a  seafaring  people,  Neptune  nev- 
er stood  in  such  high  estimation  among  them  as  among 


Fig.  35.— Poseidon.    Dolce  Gem. 

the  Greeks.  In  Rome  his  prominent  characteristic  was 
his  connection  with  the  horse  and  the  race-course.  These 
were  placed  under  his  special  protection,  for  which  reason 


122         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

the  only  temple  he  had  in  Rome  stood  in  the  Circus  Fla- 
minius. 

The  representation  of  Poseidon,  or  Neptune,  in  art  harmonizes 
tolerably  well  with  the  descriptions  of  the  poets.  He  is  accordingly 
represented  as  similar  to  his  brother  Zeus  in  size  and  figure,  with 
broad  deep  chest,  dark  wavy  hair,  and  piercing  eyes. 

Artists  intimated  the  greater  violence  of  his  nature  by  giving  him 
more  angularity  of  face,  and  a  more  bristling  and  disordered  head  of 
hair  than  Zeus.  The  expression  of  his  countenance  is  more  grave 
and  severe,  and  the  kindly  smile  that  plays  around  the  mouth  of 
Zeus  is  altogether  wanting. 

Ancient  statues  of  Poseidon  are  comparatively  rare.  The  Vatican 
Museum  possesses  a  fine  bust,  and  also  a  marble  statue  of  the  god. 
He  is  generally  distinguished  by  the  trident  in  his  right  hand ;  some- 
times in  its  place  we  find  a  tiller.  A  band  similar  to  a  diadem  de- 
notes his  dominion  over  the  sea.  Our  engraving  of  the  god  is  after 
a  beautiful  gem  of  the  Dolce  collection  (Fig.  35). 

2.  Amphitrite. — After  Poseidon  had  attained  an  al- 
most exclusive  veneration  as  god  of  the  sea,  Amphitrite, 
one  of  the  Nereids,  was  given  him  to  wife.  According  to 
the  usual  account,  he  carried  her  away  from  Naxos.  Oth- 
ers say  that  she  fled  to  Atlas  to  avoid  the  rude  wooing  of 
the  god,  but  Poseidon's  dolphin  found  her  and  fetched 
her  back.  She  had  three  children  by  Poseidon  —  Triton, 
Rhode,  and  Benthesicyme. 

In  plastic  art,  Amphitrite  is  generally  depicted  as  a  slim  and  beau- 
tiful young  woman,  either  nude  or  half  clothed,  riding  in  the  chariot 
of  Poseidon  at  his  side,  or  by  herself.  On  gems  she  also  appears 
enthroned  on  the  back  of  a  mighty  Triton,  or  riding  a  sea-horse  or 
dolphin.  Her  hair  generally  falls  loosely  about  her  shoulders.  She 
Is  distinguished  by  the  royal  insignia  of  the  diadem  and  sceptre ;  at 
times  she  also  wields  the  trident  of  her  husband. 

The  worship  of  Amphitrite  was  entirely  unknown  to  the 
Romans,  who  recognized  the  sea -goddess  Salacia  as  the 
wife  of  Neptune. 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  SEA  AND  WATERS.       123 

3.  Triton  and  the  Tritons. — Triton  was  the  only 
son  of  Poseidon  and  Amphitrite ;  he  never  appears,  how- 
ever, to  have  enjoyed  divine  honors.     This  perhaps   ex- 
plains how  it  cauie  to  pass  that  he  was  subsequently  de- 
graded to  the  level  of  a  fabulous  sea-monster.     The  poet 
Apollonius  Rhodius  describes  him  as  having  a  body,  the 
upper  parts  of  which  were  those  of  a  man,  while  the  lower 
parts  were  those  of  a  dolphin.     Such,  too,  is  his  appearance 
in  works  of  art.     Poets  and  artists  soon  revelled  in  the  con- 
ception of  a  whole  race  of  similar  Tritons,  who  were  regard- 
ed as  a  wanton,  mischievous  tribe,  like  the  Satyrs  on  land. 

The  Tritons,  as  sea-deities  of  fantastic  form,  are  of  little  impor- 
tance in  higher  art,  though  they  were  all  the  more  frequently  employ- 
ed in  fountains  and  water -works.  The  fore-legs  of  a  horse  were 
sometimes  added  to  the  human  body  and  dolphin's  tail,  thus  giving 
rise  to  the  figure  termed  the  Ichthyocentaur. 

4.  Pontus  and  his  Descendants. — We  have  al- 
ready spoken  of  Pontus  and  his  race  in  our  account  of  the 
Theogony.     Here  we  can  only  mention  those  of  his  chil- 
dren who  either  enjoyed  divine  honors,  or  are  of  impor- 
tance in  art.     The  eldest  among  them  was  Nereus. 

1.  Nereus  and  his  Daughters.  —  Nereus  presents  to  us 
the  cairn  and  pleasant  side  of  the  sea.  He  appears  as  a 
kindly,  benevolent  old  man,  the  good  spirit  of  the  ^Egean 
Sea,  where  he  dwells  with  his  fifty  lovely  daughters,  the 
Nereids,  ever  ready  to  assist  the  storm-beaten  sailor  in  the 
hour  of  need.  Like  all  water-spirits,  Nereus  possessed  the 
gift  of  prophecy,  though  he  did  not  always  choose  to  make 
use  of  it.  Heracles  sought  him  on  his  way  to  the  gar- 
den of  the  Hesperides,  in  order  to  learn  how  he  might  get 
possession  of  the  golden  apples.  In  spite  of  his  urgent  en- 
treaties, Nereus  endeavored  to  elude  him  by  assuming  ev- 


124  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

ery  kind  of  shape,  though  he  was  at  length  vanquished  by 
the  persistence  of  the  hero,  who  would  not  let  him  go  until 
he  had  obtained  the  necessary  information. 

By  his  wife  Doris,  the  daughter  of  Oceanus,  he  became 
the  father  of  fifty,  or,  according  to  some,  of  a  hundred 
daughters,  who  were  all  venerated  as  kindly,  beneficent  sea- 
nymphs.  They  are  a  charming,  lovely  tribe,  who  win  the 
hearts  of  the  sailors — now  by  their  merry  sports  and  dances, 
now  by  their  timely  assistance  in  the  hour  of  danger. 
This  joyous  band  generally  forms  the  train  of  Poseidon 
and  Amphitrite.  Besides  Amphitrite,  the  chosen  bride  of 
Poseidon,  we  find  among  them  Thetis,  the  beautiful  moth- 
er of  Achilles,  so  celebrated  in  ancient  poetry,  who  usually 
figures  as  their  leader.  Her  beauty  and  grace  were  so 
great  that  Zeus  himself  became  her  lover.  He  surrendered 
her,  however,  to  Peleus,  son  of  JEacus,  because  an  oracle 
had  declared  that  the  son  of  Thetis  should  become  greater 
than  his  father. 

In  art  Nereus  generally  appears  as  an  old  man  with  thin  gray 
locks.  He  is  commonly  distinguished  by  a  sceptre,  or  even  a  trident. 
The  Nereids  were  depicted  as  graceful  maidens,  in  earlier  times 
slightly  clothed,  but  later  entirely  nude,  riding  on  dolphins,  Tritons, 
or  other  fabulous  monsters  of  the  deep. 

2.  Thaumas,  Phorcys,  Ceto.  —  While  Nereus  and  his 
daughters  represent  the  sea  in  its  peaceful  aspect,  Thau- 
raas,  the  second  son  of  Pontus,  represents  it  as  the  world 
of  wonders.  By  Electra,  a  daughter  of  Oceanus,  he  be- 
came the  father  of  Iris,  the  messenger  of  the  gods,  and 
also  of  the  Harpies.  The  latter  personify  the  storm-winds. 
Originally  fair  maidens,  they  were  afterward  represented  as 
winged  creatures,  half  man  and  half  bird ;  they  had  the 
faces  of  maidens,  but  their  bodies  were  covered  with  vult- 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  SEA  AND  WATERS.       125 

ures'  feathers ;  they  were  pale  and  emaciated  in  appear- 
ancc,  and  were  continually  tormented  with  an  insatiable 
hunger.  They  are  best  known  from  the  story  of  the  Ar- 
gonauts, where  they  appear  as  the  tormentor  of  the  blind 
king  Phineus,  whose  table  they  continually  robbed  of  its 
viands,  which  they  either  devoured  or  spoiled.  They  were 
regarded  by  the  ancients  as  the  ministers  of  sudden  death, 
and  were  said  to  be  either  two  or  three  in  number.  Phor- 
cys  and  Ceto,  the  brother  and  sister  of  Thaumas,  present 
to  us  the  sea  under  its  terrible  aspect.  This  pair,  from 
whose  union  sprung  the  Gorgons,  the  Grseae,  and  the  drag- 
on of  the  Hespcrides,  typify  all  the  terrors  and  dangers  of 
the  deep.  We  shall  have  more  to  say  concerning  the  Gor- 
gous  and  Groerc  in  the  story  of  Perseus. 

5.  Proteus. — Proteus  is  a  deity  of  inferior  rank.  He 
is  represented  as  an  old  man  (the  servant  of  Poseidon) 
endowed  with  the  gift  of  prophecy.  He  plays  the  same 
part  in  the  story  of  Troy  as  Nereus  does  in  that  of  Hera- 
cles. His  usual  abode  was  the  island  of  Pharos.  It  was 
thither  that  Mcnelaus  turned  after  he  had  been  driven  to 
the  coast  of  Egypt,  on  his  return  from  Troy,  to  seek  the 
advice  of  the  "unerring  old  man  of  the  sea."  But  Pro- 
teus, being  in  no  amiable  mood,  sought  to  elude  the  im- 
portunity of  the  hero  by  converting  himself  into  a  lion,  a 
dragon,  a  panther,  a  wild  boar,  and  many  other  forms.  At 
length,  however,  he  was  vanquished  by  the  persistence  of 
Menelaus,  and  vouchsafed  an  answer.  He  was  supposed 
to  be  the  keeper  of  the  fish  who  inhabit  the  depths  of  the 
sea,  and  of  the  other  marine  animals. 

In  works  of  art  he  generally  appears  like  a  Triton,  i.  e.,  with  body 
ending  in  a  fish's  tail.  He  is  usually  distinguished  by  a  crook. 


126  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

6.  G-laucus. — Among  the  inferior  sea-deities,  Glaucus 
deserves  mention  as  playing  a  part  in  the  story  of  the 
Argonauts.     He  was  really  only  a  local  god  of  the  Anthe- 
donians  in  Boeotia,  and  his  worship  was  not  extended  to 
other  places  in  Greece.     But  though  he  had  no  splendid 
temples,  he  stood  in  very  high  estimation  among  the  lower 
classes  of  sailors  and  fishermen  ;  indeed,  we  find  universally 
that  the  common  people,  in  all  their  cares,  turned  rather  to 
the  inferior  deities,  whom  they  supposed  to  stand  closer  to 
them,  than  to  the  higher  and  more  important  gods.     Ac- 
cording to  the  story,  Glaucus  was  originally  a  fisherman  of 
Anthedon,  who  attained  in  a  wonderful  manner  the  rank 
of  a  god.     One  day,  after  having  caught  some  fish,  he  laid 
them  half  dead  on  the  turf  close  by.     He  was  astonished 
to  see,  however,  that  on  coming  in  contact  with  a  certain 
herb,  which  was  unknown  to  him,  they  were  restored  to 
life  and  sprung  back  into  the  sea.     He  himself  now  ate  of 
this  wonderful  herb,  and  immediately  felt  himself  pene- 
trated by  so  wondrous  a  sensation  of  bliss  and  animation 
that,  in  his  excitement,  he  too  sprung  into  the  sea.     Ocea- 
nus  and  Thetis  hereupon  cleansed  him  from  all  his  human 
impurities,  and  gave  him  a  place  among  the  sea-gods.     He 
was  venerated  on  many  of  the  islands  and  coasts  of  Greece 
as  a  friendly  deity,  ever  ready  to  assist  the  shipwrecked 
sailor  or  the  castaway. 

In  art  he  is  represented  as  a  Triton,  rough  and  shaggy  in  appear- 
ance, his  body  covered  with  mussels  or  sea -weed.  His  hair  and 
beard  show  that  luxuriance  which  characterizes  sea-gods. 

7.  Ino  Leucothea,  and  Melicertes.  —  Like  Glau- 
cus, Ino,  the  daughter  of  Cadmus,  attained  at  once  immor- 
tality and  divine  rank  by  a  i<jap  into  the  sea.     She  was  a 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  SEA  AND  WATERS.       127 

sister  of  Semele,  the  mother  of  Dionysus,  and  the  wife  of 
Athamas,  King  of  Orchomenus.  It  was  she  who,  after  the 
unhappy  death  of  Semele,  took  charge  of  the  infant  Diony- 
sus. Hera,  however,  avenged  herself  by  driving  Athamas 
mad,  whereupon  he  dashed  Learchus,  his  eldest  son  by  Ino, 
against  a  rock.  He  was  about  to  inflict  the  same  fate  on 
Melicertes,  his  second  son,  when  in  frantic  haste  the  un- 
happy mother  sought  to  save  her  child  by  flight.  Atha- 
mas, however,  pursued  her  as  far  as  the  Isthmus,  when  Ino, 
seeing  no  hope  of  escape,  cast  herself  from  the  rock  Mo- 
luris  into  the  sea.  Here  she  was  kindly  received  by  the 
Nereids,  and  converted,  together  with  her  son,  into  sea- 
deities.  She  henceforth  bore  the  name  of  Leucothea,  and 
her  son  that  of  Pala3mon.  They  were  both  regarded  as 
benevolent  deities  of  the  stormy  sea,  who  came  to  the  as- 
sistance of  those  who  were  shipwrecked  or  in  other  peril. 
They  appear  in  this  guise  in  the  "  Odyssey,"  where  Odys- 
seus, who  saw  only  certain  death  before  him,  is  repre- 
sented as  having  been  saved  by  a  scarf  thrown  to  him  by 
Leucothea. 

8.  The  Sirens.  —  The  Sirens  must  also  be  reckoned 
among  the  sea- deities.  They  are  best  known  from  the 
story  how  Odysseus  succeeded  in  passing  them  with  his 
companions  without  being  seduced  by  their  song.  He 
had  the  prudence  to  stop  the  ears  of  his  companions  with 
wax,  and  to  have  himself  bound  to  the  mast.  The  Sirens 
were  regarded  as  the  daughters  either  of  the  river -god 
Achelous  by  one  of  the  nymphs,  or  of  Phorcys  and  Ceto. 
Only  two  Sirens  are  mentioned  in  Homer,  but  three  or 
four  were  recognized  in  later  times  and  introduced  into 
various  legends,  such  as  that  of  the  Argonauts,  or  the  Sicil' 


128          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

ian  story  of  the  rape  of  Persephone.  Demeter  is  said  to 
have  changed  their  bodies  into  those  of  birds,  because  they 
refused  to  go  to  the  help  of  their  companion,  Persephone, 
when  she  was  carried  off  by  the  god  of  the  lower  world. 

In  art  they  are  represented,  like  the  Harpies,  as  young  women  with 
the  wings  and  feet  of  birds.  Sometimes  they  appear  altogether  like 
birds,  only  with  human  faces ;  at  other  times  with  the  arms  and 
bodies  of  women,  in  which  case  they  generally  hold  instruments  of 
music  in  their  hands.  As  their  songs  were  death  to  those  who  were 
seduced  by  them,  they  are  often  depicted  on  tombs  as  spirits  of 
death. 

9.  The  Race  of  Oceamis.  —  Lastly,  we  must  enu- 
merate among  the  water-deities  the  numerous  descendants 
of  Oceanus,  viz.,  the  Occanids,  and  also  the  rivers  that  are 
spread  over  the  earth.  The  latter  were  believed  to  have 
their  common  source  in  the  ocean  encircling  the  earth,  and 
thence  to  flow  beneath  the  ground  until  they  reached  the 
surface  in  springs. 

Oceanus  himself  appears  in  the  myths  which  treat  of 
the  genealogy  of  the  gods  as  the  eldest  son  of  Uranus  and 
Ga?a,  and  therefore,  like  his  wife  Tethys,  a  Titan.  As  he 
did  not  take  part  in  the  rebellion  of  the  other  Titans 
against  the  dominion  of  Zeus,  he  did  not  share  their  dread- 
ful fate,  but  was  allowed  to  remain  in  undisturbed  enjoy- 
ment of  his  ancient  domain.  He  was  supposed  to  dwell 
on  the  most  western  shores  of  the  earth,  which  he  never 
left  even  to  attend  the  assemblies  of  the  gods. 

On  account  of  their  great  importance  to  the  fertility  of 
the  soil,  the  river-gods  enjoyed  a  great  reputation  among 
the  Greeks,  although  their  worship  was  entirely  of  a  local 
nature.  Only  Achelous,  the  greatest  of  all  the  Greek  riv- 
ers, appears  to  have  enjoyed  general  veneration.  The  riv- 
er-gods were  believed  to  dwell  either  iu  the  depths  of  the 


THE    GODS    OF    THK    EARTH    AND    LOWER    WORLD.      129 

rivers  themselves,  or  in  rocky  grottos  near  their  sources. 
They  were  depicted  either  as  delicate  youths,  or  as  men  in 
their  prime,  or  as  old  men,  according  to  the  magnitude  of 
the  river.  They  all  possess  a  conformity  with  the  nature 
of  their  element,  viz.,  that  power  of  transformation  which 
we  discover  in  the  other  sea -deities.  They  also  appear, 
like  other  water-spirits,  to  possess  the  gift  of  prophecy. 

Among  the  Romans  all  flowing  waters  were  held  sacred. 
Fontus,  the  son  of  Janus,  was  especially  esteemed  as  the 
god  of  springs  and  fountains  in  general ;  but,  as  among 
the  Greeks,  each  river  had  its  special  deity.  The  most  im- 
portant of  these  was  Tiberinus.  The  springs  were  popu- 
larly supposed  to  be  inhabited  by  nymphs  gifted  with  the 
powers  of  prophecy  and  magic,  who  sometimes  honored 
mortals  with  their  favors,  as  Egeria  did  King  Numa. 

In  art  the  river-gods  were  commonly  represented  in  the  guise  of 
those  animals  whose  forms  they  were  most  in  the  habit  of  assuming. 
They  thus  appear  as  serpents,  bulls,  or  even  as  men  with  bulls'  heads. 
They  were  also  portrayed,  however,  in  purely  human  guise,  with  the 
exception  of  having  small  horns  on  either  side  of  the  head.  Their 
attributes  consist  of  urns  and  horns  of  plenty,  symbols  of  the  bless- 
ings that  proceed  from  them. 


III.— THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER 
WORLD. 

We  now  come  to  a  class  of  deities  who  stand  in  the 
most  decided  contrast  to  the  gods  of  the  heaven  and  the 
sea,  whom  we  have  previously  described.  It  consists  of 
those  deities  whose  power  is  incessantly  exerted  either  on 
the  surface  or  in  the  depths  of  the  earth,  and  who  are  ac- 
cordingly brought  into  the  closest  connection  with  the  life 

9 


130         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

of  man.  The  worship  of  these  deities  assumed  among  the 
Greeks  a  passionate  and  excited  character,  at  first  entirely 
strange  to  the  Romans,  though  it  gradually  crept  in  here  also. 
Though  the  ancients  saw  in  the  earth,  on  the  one  hand, 
the  fruitful  source  of  all  life  in  nature,  they  did  not  seek 
to  disguise  the  fact  that  it  is,  on  the  other  hand,  also  the 
open  sepulchre  into  which  all  earthly  existence  sinks  when' 
its  time  is  over.  The  worship  of  these  deities  was  there- 
fore celebrated  with  festivals  of  joy  and  mirth  at  the  sea- 
son of  the  revival  of  nature,  and  with  mournful  solemnities 
at  the  season  of  its  decay.  The  devotees  manifested  both 
their  mirth  and  mourning  in  a  loud,  noisy,  passionate  man- 
ner, usually  designated  orgiastic.  An  element  of  mystery 
never  failed  to  introduce  itself  into  the  worship  of  these 
deities,  who,  in  virtue  of  their  dwellings,  Avere  able  to  in- 
spire a  greater  feeling  of  awe  than  the  bright  forms  of  the 
gods  of  heaven.  Their  wrath  also,  which  manifested  itself 
in  the  sterility  of  the  soil,  was  the  subject  of  especial  fear. 
Mysteries  proper,  or  secret  rites,  existed  only  among  the 
Greeks,  but  never  found  their  way  into  the  religious  sys- 
tems of  Italy.  We  shall  enumerate  first  the  deities  of  the 
upper  world,  who  preside  over  the  growth  of  flocks  and 
the  fruits  of  the  earth,  and  then  those  who  inhabit  the 
lower  world. 

1 .  G-aea  (Tellus).  —  First  among  them  is  Gsea,  cr 
Mother  Earth  herself.  This  deity  appears  in  the  Cosmog 
ony  (or  myths  relating  to  the  formation  of  the  universe) 
as  one  of  the  primeval  creative  forces,  having  herself  pro- 
ceeded immediately  from  Chaos.  In  later  times  she  ac- 
quired a  more  personal  and  plastic  character,  although  she 
never  attained  any  real  importance  in  the  religious  system 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER  WORLD.   131 

of  the  Greeks,  owing  to  the  existence  of  more  definite  and 
substantial  deities  such  as  Rhea,  Hestia,  Demeter,  and  The> 
mis.  The  worship  of  Tellus  in  Rome  was  more  important, 
although  here,  too,  it  was  somewhat  thrown  into  the  shade 
by  the  worship  of  Ceres  and  kindred  deities. 

The  chief  significance  of  Gaea  lies  in  the  fact  that  she  is 
the  source  of  all  life  and  increase  in  nature.  She  is  hence 
regarded  as  a  mother  who  tends  with  loving  care  all  her 
children.  Under  this  aspect  her  praises  are  sung  by  Hesi- 
od,  and  also  in  an  ancient  Dodonaic  hymn.  Like  Demeter 
and  other  deities  who  dispense  prosperity  and  abundance, 
she  appears  as  tending  and  nourishing  the  young,  and  is 
often  represented  thus  on  ancient  monuments. 

At  the  same  time  Gaea  is  the  common  grave  of  man- 
kind, and  draws  all  things,  with  inexorable  severity,  down 
into  her  dark  womb.  She  thus  becomes  a  goddess  of 
death  and  the  lower  world,  and  was  on  this  account  in- 
voked, together  with  the  Manes,  as  a  witness  of  all  solemn 
compacts  and  oaths. 

A  very  ancient  shrine  of  this  goddess  existed  at  Delphi, 
and  the  oracle  there  had  once,  said  the  Dclphians,  belonged 
to  her. 

In  Rome,  where  she  was  also  venerated  as  a  goddess  of 
marriage,  her  temple  stood  on  the  site  of  the  house  of 
Spurius  Cassius.  Festive  offerings  were  made  to  her  be- 
fore and  after  seed-time.  On  the  occasion  of  the  Pagana- 
lia,  she  and  Ceres  were  propitiated  by  the  sacrifice  of  a 
pregnant  sow,  which  was  supposed  to  promote  the  pros- 
perity of  the  coming  year. 

2.  Rhea  Cybele  (Magna  Mater  Idaea). — Rhea  is 
well  known  as  the  daughter  of  Uranus  and  Gaea,  and  the 


132  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MTTHOLOGT. 

wife  of  Cronus,  by  whom  she  became  the  mother  of  Zeus 
and  the  other  Cronidae.  She  seems  to  have  enjoyed  only 
a  limited  measure  of  divine  honors,  until  she  was  identified 
with  the  Phrygian  goddess  Cybele,  who,  like  the  Egyptian 
Isis,  was  an  Asiatic  symbol  of  fertility.  She  was  worship- 
ped throughout  Lydia  and  Phrygia  under  the  appellation 
of  the  "  Mighty  Mother."  Thence  her  worship,  which  was 
of  a  peculiarly  noisy  character,  made  its  way  through  the 
Greek  colonies  into  Greece  itself,  and  towards  the  end  of 
the  second  Punic  war  was,  at  the  instance  of  the  Sibylline 
books,  introduced  into  Rome.  Attains,  King  of  Pergamus, 
was  on  this  occasion  good  enough  to  present  the  Romans 
with  a  sacred  stone,  which  was  regarded  by  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Pessinus  as  the  great  mother  herself.  After  its  ar- 
rival at  Ostia,  this  stone  was  carried  to  Rome  amidst  a  sol- 
emn procession  of  Roman  matrons.  The  day  of  its  arrival 
(April  10th)  was  ever  afterward  kept  as  a  festival,  at  which 
games  were  celebrated  under  the  superintendence  of  the 
praetor.  The  worship  of  Cybele,  however,  never  seems  to 
have  become  naturalized  in  Rome,  perhaps  because  Romans 
were  not  allowed  to  officiate  as  her  priests. 

The  true  home  of  the  worship  of  Cybele  was  the  district 
of  Pessinus,  a  rough  and  rocky  mountain  land.  It  was 
here  that  she  made  her  noisy  processions,  seated  in  a  char- 
iot drawn  by  lions  or  panthers,  amidst  the  boisterous  music 
of  her  weird  attendants,  the  Corybantes  and  Curetes.  The 
myths  that  relate  to  the  goddess  bear  a  wild,  fantastic  char- 
acter, similar  to  that  of  her  rites.  The  best  known  among 
them  is  the  story  of  her  favorite,  Attis,  or  Atys.  He  was 
a  Phrygian  youth  of  a  beauty  so  exceptional  that  the  great 
mother  of  the  gods  chose  him  for  her  husband.  At  first 
he  returned  her  affection,  but  afterward  he  proved  faithless, 


THE    GODS    OF    THE    EARTH    AND    LOWER    WORLD.      133 

and  was  about  to  marry  a  daughter  of  the  King  of  Pessi- 
nus.  But  the  vengeance  of  the  angry  goddess  overtook 
him,  for  when  the  wedding  guests  were  assembled  at  the 
festive  banquet  the  goddess  appeared  in  their  midst,  and 
filled  those  present  with  panic  fear,  and  troubled  their 
minds.  Atys  fled  to  the  mountains,  where  he  slew  him- 
self in  a  fit  of  frenzy.  Afterward,  the  goddess  instituted  a 
great  mourning  in  memory  of  him,  which  took  place  about 
the  time  of  the  vernal  equinox.  The  priests  of  the  god- 
dess marched,  amidst  the  loud  noise  of  kettle-drums  and 
fifes,  to  the  mountains,  in  order  to  search  for  the  lost 
youth;  and  when  at  length  he,  or  an  image  representing 
him,  was  found,  the  priests,  in  an  ecstasy  of  joy,  danced 
about  in  wild  excitement,  gashing  themselves  with  knives. 

Representations  of  Rhea  Cybele  are  rare.  A  statue  representing 
her  seated  on  a  throne  is  shown  in  the  Vatican.  Her  usual  attribute 
is  a  kettle-drum. 

3.  Dionysus,  or  Bacchus  (Liber). — Dionysus,  or 
Bacchus,  was  regarded  by  Greeks  and  Romans  alike  as  the 
god  of  wine  and  vineyards.  In  his  more  extended  mean- 
ing he  represents  the  blessings  of  the  autumn.  It  is  he 
who  causes  the  fruits  to  ripen  for  the  use  of  man ;  it  is  like- 
wise he  who  dispenses  to  mankind  all  the  advantages  of 
civilization  and  refinement,  and  of  well-ordered  political 
affairs. 

Thebes  was  described  as  the  birthplace  of  the  god.  His 
mother  was  Semele,  the  daughter  of  Cadmus,  whom  Zeus, 
the  great  god  of  heaven,  honored  with  his  love.  This  very 
love,  however,  proved  fatal  to  Semele,  for  the  ever-jealous 
Hera  came  to  her  in  the  guise  of  her  nurse,  Beroe,  and 
succeeded  in  exciting  her  suspicions  as  to  the  truth  of  her 
lover's  divinity.  She  insidiously  persuaded  Semele  to  make 


134  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

her  lover  swear  to  do  what  she  desired,  and  then  to  put 
him  to  the  test.  Semele  did  so,  and  then  besought  Zeus 
to  appear  to  her  in  the  full  majesty  of  his  divine  form. 
In  vain  did  Zeus  adjure  her  to  take  back  her  foolish  re- 
quest; she  insisted  on  its  fulfilment,  and  perished  misera- 
bly, being  burned  to  ashes  by  the  flame  of  Zeus,  who  ap- 
proached her  in  a  flash  of  lightning.  Her  unborn  child 
was  preserved  by  Zeus,  who  ordered  Hermes  to  carry  it  to 
the  nymphs  of  Nysa  to  be  brought  up.  A  later  legend 
makes  Ino,  the  sister  of  Sernele,  the  foster-mother  of  Dio- 
nysus. The  locality  of  this  Nysa  is  somewhat  uncertain, 
but  it  is  generally  supposed  to  be  a  district  of  Mount  Pan- 
ga3us,  in  Thrace. 

Dionysus,  after  growing  up  amidst  the  solitude  of  the 
forest  and  strengthening  himself  by  his  contests  with  its 
wild  beasts,  at  length  planted  the  vine.  Both  the  god  and 
his  attendants  soon  became  intoxicated  with  its  juice ;  af- 
ter which,  crowned  with  wreaths  of  laurel  and  ivy,  and  ac- 
companied by  a  crowd  of  nymphs,  satyrs,  and  fauns,  he 
ranged  the  woods,  which  resounded  with  the  loud  and  joy- 
ful cries  of  his  inspired  worshippers.  The  legend  says  that 
his  education  was  then  completed  by  Silenus,  the  son  of 
Pan.  In  company  with  his  preceptor  and  the  rest  of  his 
train,  he  then  set  forth  to  spread  his  worship  and  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  vine  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  He 
did  not  confine  himself  to  mere  vine-planting,  however,  but 
proved  a  real  benefactor  of  mankind  by  founding  cities, 
and  by  introducing  more  civilized  manners  and  a  more 
pleasant  and  sociable  mode  of  life  among  men.  On  such 
as  refused  his  favors  his  wrath  fell  with  dreadful  effect. 
Agave,  the  mother  of  the  Theban  king  Pentheus,  who  had 
refused  to  receive  him,  and  the  rest  of  the  Theban  women, 


THE    GODS    OF    THE    EARTH    AND    LOWER    WORLD.      135 

were  driven  mad  by  him ;  and  in  their  frenzy  they  mistook 
the  king  for  a  wild-boar  and  tore  him  to  pieces. 

The  most  celebrated  among  the  myths  which  testify  to 
the  wondrous  power  of  Dionysus  is  the  story  of  the  pun- 
ishment of  the  Tyrrhenian  pirates.  On  the  occasion  of  his 
passage  from  Icaria  to  Naxos,  these  pirates  put  Dionysus 
in  chains,  purposing  to  take  him  to  Italy,  and  there  sell  him 
as  a  slave.  At  a  nod  from  the  youthful  god  the  chains  fell 
from  his  limbs ;  he  appeared  as  a  lion,  while  a  bear  was 


Fig.  36.— Dionysus  and  Lion.    From  the  Monument  of  Lysicrates. 

seen  at  the  other  end  of  the  ship.  Vines  and  ivy  tendrils 
wound  themselves  round  the  mast  and  sails  of  the  ship, 
which  stood  still,  while  the  strains  of  the  nymphs  burst 
forth.  The  sailors,  terrified  by  the  transformation  of  the 
god,  leaped  overboard,  and  were  changed  into  dolphins. 
A  fine  representation,  in  relief,  of  this  scene  still  exists  on 
the  monument  of  Lysicrates,  at  Athens.  The  most  beauti- 
ful feature  in  it  is  the  figure  of  the  god  playing  with  his 
lion  in  the  most  joyous  unconsciousness  (Fig.  36).  With 


136  GREEK    AND    KOMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

the  name  of  Naxos,  which  was  a  chief  seat  of  his  worship, 
is  connected  the  celebrated  story  of  his  marriage  with  Ari- 
adne, the  daughter  of  Minos,  King  of  Crete.  The  Attic 
hero  Theseus,  after  escaping  the  dangers  of  the  Labyrinth 
by  her  means,  had  taken  her  away  with  him  from  Crete  in 
order  to  marry  her.  He  deserted  her,  however,  while  asleep 
on  the  island  of  Naxos,  either  of  his  own  accord  or  because 
warned  of  the  god  in  a  dream.  The  indescribable  anguish 
and  consternation  of  Ariadne,  on  awaking  to  find  herself 
alone  and  deserted  on  a  foreign  strand,  was  only  equalled 
by  her  joyous  surprise  when  Bacchus,  returning  from  his 
travels  in  India,  found  her  and  made  her  his  bride.  The 
poets,  indeed,  do  not  relate  that  Zeus  then  bestowed  on  her 
that  immortality  which  he  had  already  given  his  son  on 
account  of  his  glorious  achievements  and  extraordinary 
merit  towards  mankind ;  but  such  appears  to  have  been  the 
popular  tradition.  At  Athens  a  sort  of  harvest  thanksgiv 
ing  was  celebrated  in  honor  of  both  Dionysus  and  his  bride, 
at  which  vines  with  the  grapes  on  them  were  borne  in  sol- 
emn procession  through  the  streets  of  the  city. 

The  worship  of  Dionysus  extended  not  only  over  the 
whole  of  Greece,  but  also  to  Italy,  Asia  Minor,  Thrace,  and 
Macedonia,  and  to  every  place  where  the  vine  was  culti- 
vated by  the  Greeks.  The  god  was  extolled  as  Lyffius,  the 
deliverer  from  care,  and  great  festivals  were  instituted  in 
his  honor,  which  were  of  a  disorderly  character,  but  very 
popular  among  the  common  people.  At  the  time  of  the 
winter  solstice  there  was  mourning,  because  at  this  season 
the  vine  seemed  to  die  away,  and  the  god  was  believed  to 
be  suffering  persecution  at  the  hands  of  the  evil  spirits  of 
winter,  and  obliged  to  flee  in  consequence  to  the  sea  or 
lower  world.  It  was,  therefore,  thought  right  to  suffer 


Fig.  37,— The  so-called  Sardanapalus  in  the  Vatican. 


138         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

with  him,  and  people  manifested  their  grief  at  his  disap- 
pearance by  every  kind  of  wild  gesture.  At  the  wintei 
festivals  of  Dionysus,  which  were  celebrated  every  other 
year,  only  women  and  girls  took  part.  The  festivals  of 
the  god  at  the  beginning  of  spring,  when  the  new  wine 
was  tasted  for  the  first  time,  were  purely  festivals  of  glad- 
ness, like  the  greater  Dionysia  at  Athens.  On  these  oc- 
casions the  reawakening  of  nature  was  celebrated  with 
boundless  joy  and  boisterous  mirth.  All  kinds  of  jokes 
and  mischievous  pranks  were  indulged  in,  and  festive  pro- 
cessions and  theatrical  performances  followed  each  other  in 
quick  succession. 

The  following  festivals  were  celebrated  at  Athens  in 
honor  of  Dionysus : 

1.  The  Lesser  or  Rural  Dionysia.     This  was  the  vin- 
tage festival  proper,  which  did  not  take  place  in  Attica  till 
the  end  of  November  or  beginning  of  December,  because 
they  liked  to  let  the  grapes  hang  as  long  as  possible.     A 
he-goat  was  first  solemnly  sacrificed  to  the  god ;  this  was 
followed  by  a  festive  procession  bearing  the  sacred  things, 
and  the  festival  concluded  with  all  kinds  of  country  amuse- 
ments, dancing,  masquerading,  and   revelling.     The   chief 
amusement  of  the  young  men  was  dancing  on  the  leather 
bag.     Out  of  the  skin  of  the  slaughtered  goat  was  made  a 
leather  bag,  which  was  inflated  and  smeared  with  oil :  the 
young  men  then  attempted  to  dance  on  it. 

2.  The  Lencea,  or  feast  of  the  wine-press,  was  celebrated 
in  the  month  of  January  at  Athens,  in  the  place  where,  ac- 
cording to  an  old  tradition,  the  first  wine-press  had  stood. 
Here  stood  the  Lenaeon,  one  of  the  two  chief  temples  of 
the  god.     The  chief  feature  of  the  festival  was  a  magnifi- 
cent procession  with  the  sacred  symbols  of  the  god.     This 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER  WORLD.   139 


Fig.  38.— Youthful  Dionysus.     From  the  Chateau  Eichelien,  now  in  the 
Louvre. 

was  followed  by  a  great  banquet,  the  viands  for  which 
were  furnished  by  the  city  of  Athens.  The  new  wine 
which  was  drunk  on  these  occasions  did  not  tend  to  di- 
minish the  hilarity  of  the  worshippers,  so  that  all  kinds 
of  mischievous  jokes  were  perpetrated. 

3.  The  Anthesteria  were  celebrated  in  February,  on  the 
llth,  12th,  and    13th   days  of  the  month  Anthesterion. 


140         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGf. 

They  were  supposed  to  commemorate  the  return  of  Diony. 
sus  from  the  lower  world,  or,  in  other  words,  the  reawaken- 
ing of  nature  from  the  sleep  of  winter.  The  first  day  was 
called  mBoiyia  (cask-opening),  because  on  this  day  the  new 
wine  was  first  broached.  The  second  and  chief  day  of  the 
festival  was  called  x<«e  (cups).  A  procession  and  a  great 
banquet  took  place,  at  which  the  guests  were  crowned  with 
flowers.  Many  liberties  were 
permitted  to  the  slaves  on  this 
occasion,  as  at  the  Koman  Sat- 
urnalia. The  third  day  was 
called  xvrpot  (pots),  because 
vessels  were  displayed  filled 
with  all  kinds  of  boiled  vege- 
tables. These  were  regarded 
in  the  light  of  offerings  for 
the  souls  of  the  dead,  who  were 
popularly  supposed  to  revisit 
the  upper  world  on  this  occa- 
sion. 

4.  The  Greater  or  City  Dio~ 
Fig.  39.— Marble  Head  of  Yonthful  nysia  formed  the  chief  festi- 
Dionysus  at  Leyden.  vaj  of  foe  god,  and  the  proper 

spring-feast  of  the  Athenians.  It  was  celebrated  with  ex- 
traordinary splendor  in  the  month  of  March,  and  lasted 
several  days,  bringing  together  a  vast  concourse  of  stran- 
gers from  all  parts.  The  city,  renowned  alike  for  the 
refined  artistic  taste  and  the  keen  wit  of  its  inhabitants, 
then  donned  its  holiday  garb,  and  innumerable  merry  an' 
tics  were  played  by  the  crowds  assembled  in  the  streets 
and  squares.  The  chief  feature  of  the  festival  was  a  sol- 
emn  procession,  in  which  an  old  wooden  statue  of  the  god 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER  WORLD.   141 

was  borne  through  the  streets.  There  were  likewise  ban- 
quets and  comic  processions  in  masks,  and  grand  repre- 
sentations of  new  comedies  and  tragedies.  The  proceed- 
ings concluded  with  the  presentation  of  prizes  to  the  suc- 
cessful competitors. 

The  Italian  nationalities  likewise  celebrated  a  festival  on 
the  17th  of  March,  called  the  Libcralia,  in  honor  of  Liber, 
or  Liber  Pater,  the  Italian  god  of  the  vine.  It  was  dis- 
tinguished throughout  by  the  simple  countrified  character 
of  the  proceedings,  and  resembled  the  Lesser  Dionysia  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Attica.  People  amused  themselves  with 
all  kinds  of  jokes  and  antics,  and  with  masquerades,  the 
masks  for  which  were  cut  from  the  bark  of  trees.  The 
chief  object  of  the  festival  was  to  pray  for  the  fertility  of 
the  vines.  These  innocent  festivals  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  voluptuous  Bacchanalia  which  were  afterward  intro- 
duced into  Rome  in  imitation  of  the  Greek  mysteries,  and 
which  the  most  rigorous  interference  of  the  authorities  was 
unable  to  suppress. 

If  we  try  to  conceive  briefly  the  significance  of  the  wor- 
ship of  Dionysus  in  the  religion  of  the  ancients,  we  shall 
find  that  in  his  primitive  character  the  god  was  a  personi- 
fication of  the  active,  productive  power  of  nature.  As  De- 
meter  was  supposed  to  give  corn  and  the  other  fruits  of 
the  field,  so  Dionysus  was  supposed  to  give  the  fruits  of 
trees,  and  especially  of  the  vine.  He  was  likewise  regard- 
ed as  the  author  of  the  blessings  of  civilization,  so  that,  on 
this  point,  he  supplements  the  idea  of  the  great  culture* 
goddess  Demcter,  with  whom,  both  among  the  Greeks  and 
Romans,  he  had  many  temples  and  festivals  in  common. 
Looking  at  his  character  from  another  side,  we  find  him 
coming  into  contact  with  Apollo,  since  he  was  supposed 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER  WORLD.   143 

not  only  to  endow  men  with  a  kindly,  cheerful  disposition, 
but  also  to  inspire  them  with  a  love  of  music,  on  which  ac- 
count he  was  honored  with  Apollo  as  the  friend  and  lead- 
er of  the  Muses. 

Artistic  representations  of  Dionysus  have  come  down  to  us  on 
numerous  monuments.  In  earlier  art  he  was  generally  depicted  as 
majestic  and  grave,  and  on  that  account  represented  with  a  beard. 
We  have  given  an  instance  of  this  earlier  conception  in  the  so-called 
Sardanapalus  of  the  Vatican  (Fig.  37).  In  later  art  he  became  more 
youthful,  and  was  characterized  by  a  delicate  roundness  of  form. 
The  statues  of  this  period  are  distinguished  by  the  almost  feminine 
expression  of  face  with  which  they  endow  the  god,  as  well  as  by  the 


Fig,  41.— Dannecker's  Ariadne.    Fraukfort-on-the  Main. 


144         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

rounded  limbs  and  the  graceful  ease  of  every  attitude.  The  statub 
of  a  youthful  Dionysus  in  the  Louvre  at  Paris  is  an  instance  of  this 
later  mode  of  conception  (Fig.  38).  So  likewise  is  the  head  of  Diony- 
sus at  Leyden,  which  is  distinguished  by  a  sweet  expression  of  rev- 
erie. His  soft  hair,  which  falls  about  his  shoulders  in  delicate  ring- 
lets, is  generally  intertwined  with  a  garland  of  vine  leaves  or  ivy 
(Fig.  39).  The  other  attributes  of  the  god  are  the  thyrsus,  or  Bac- 
chic wand,  the  diadem,  the  skin  of  a  wild  beast  falling  across  his 
chest,  which  often  forms  his  sole  clothing,  and  the  drinking-cup  in 
his  hand.  He  is  generally  accompanied  by  lions,  tigers,  or  panthers ; 
and  the  bull  and  ram,  as  the  symbols  of  fertility,  were  held  sacred 
to  him,  while  the  latter  was  also  his  usual  sacrifice.  Among  plants, 
besides  the  vine  and  the  ivy,  the  laurel  was  held  sacred  to  him  on 
account  of  its  powers  of  inspiration. 

Of  all  the  prominent  personages  in  the  stories  of  Dionysus,  Ariadne 
has  received  most  attention  at  the  hands  of  the  sculptor.  The  most 
celebrated  of  such  ancient  monuments  is  a  marble  figure  of  great 
beauty,  larger  than  life,  representing  the  sleeping  Ariadne.  It  is 
now  preserved  in  the  Vatican  Museum  at  Rome  (Fig.  40).  Among 
the  productions  of  modern  sculptors,  the  Ariadne  of  Dannecker,  at 
Frankfort-on-the-Main,  which  represents  her  as  the  bride  of  Theseus, 
riding  on  a  panther,  justly  enjoys  a  very  high  reputation  (Fig.  41). 

4.  The  Nymphs. — We  now  come  to  a  class  of  in- 
ferior terrestrial  divinities  who  are  often  found  in  the  train 
of  Bacchus.  The  most  numerous  and  important  of  these 
are  the  Nymphs.  They  personify  the  restless  activity  and 
energy  of  nature,  over  the  whole  of  which  their  power  ex- 
tends. They  manifest  their  presence  in  the  murmuring, 
rippling  streams  and  brooks,  as  well  as  in  the  sprouting 
vegetation  of  wood  and  meadow.  They  are  tender,  grace- 
ful maidens,  who,  though  kindly  disposed  towards  men, 
yet  avoid  human  habitations,  and  prefer  the  peaceful  soli- 
tude of  the  woods  and  mountains,  where  they  lead  a  merry, 
joyous  life  among  the  clefts  and  grottos. 

Sometimes  they  devote  themselves  to  useful  pursuits, 
and  spin  and  weave;  sometimes  they  engage  in  graceful 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWSR  WORLD.   145 

dances,  and  sing  merry  songs,  or  bathe  their  delicate  limbs 
in  the  white  spray  of  lonely  brooks.  They  gladly  join  the 
train  of  those  superior  deities  supposed  to  preside  in  the 
realms  of  nature.  Thus  we  see  them  joining  in  the  Bacchic 
revelry  with  Dionysus,  or  figuring  in  the  train  of  Aphro- 
dite, or  ranging  field  and  wood  as  they  hunt  in  the  com- 
pany of  Artemis. 

According  to  the  divisions  of  nature,  over  which  the 
Nymphs  were  supposed  to  preside,  we  may  distinguish  the 
following  classes : 

1.  The  Water-nymphs,  to  whom,  in  their  wider  signifi- 
cation, the  Oceanids  and  Nereids  also  belong.     Here,  how- 
ever, we  have  only  to  deal  with  the  water-nymphs  of  the 
brooks  and  fountains  of  the  land,  who  are  distinguished  by 
the  name  of  Naiads.     As  the  kindly  nourishers  of  plants, 
and  as  thereby  ministering  indirectly  to  the  sustenance  of 
both  man  and  beast,  they  enjoyed  a  large  measure  of  ven- 
eration among  the  ancients,  although,  being  inferior  deities, 
they  could  claim  no  temples  of  their  own.     Like  the  sea- 
nymphs,  they  possessed  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and  appear 
as  the  patrons  of  poetry  and  song. 

2.  Nymphs  of  the  Mountains,  or  Oreads,  to  whom  be- 
long the  nymphs  of  the  valleys  and  glens  (Napaeae.)    These 
were  very  numerous,  and  received  special  names  from  the 
particular   mountains   or   districts   they   inhabited.      The 
most  celebrated  among   them  was  the   Boeotian   nymph 
Echo.     She  was  consumed  by  love  for  the  beautiful  youth 
Narcissus,  a  son  of  the  river-god  Cephisus,  and  finding  that 
he  did  not  reciprocate  her  affection,  she  pined  away  in  ever- 
increasing  grief,  until  at  length  her  emaciated  frame  was 
changed  into  rock,  and  nothing  but  her  voice  remained. 
But  Aphrodite  avenged  this  injury  to  her  sex  on  Narcissus, 

10 


146         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

who  had  in  his  vain  self-love  thus  contemned  the  beauti- 
ful nymph.  As  he  was  hunting  one  day  on  Mount  Helicon, 
he  bent  down  to  quench  his  thirst  from  a  spring  clear  aa 
crystal,  and  the  goddess  caused  him  to  fall  in  love  with  his 
own  shadow,  which  was  reflected  in  the  water.  The  object 
of  his  desires  being  unattainable,  he  too  pined  away  from 
grief,  and  the  flower  named  after  him  has  ever  since  con- 
tinued an  emblem  of  heartless  beauty. 

3.  The  Dryads,  or  Hamadryads  (wood-nymphs).  These 
appear  to  have  been  a  conception  of  later  times.  It  was 
supposed  that  their  existence  depended  on  that  of  the  trees 
they  inhabited ;  so  that  when  the  latter  were  destroyed,  the 
nymphs  also  perished.  Not  sharing  immortality,  therefore, 
they  cannot  properly  be  reckoned  among  the  gods. 

The  veneration  of  nymphs  was  very  ancient  in  Greece, 
and  was  thence  transferred  to  Kome.  Goats,  lambs,  milk, 
and  oil  were  offered  to  them. 

In  art  they  are  depicted  as  lovely  maidens,  generally  only  slightly 
clad,  and  adorned  with  flowers  and  garlands.  The  Naiads  are  also 
represented  as  drawing  water,  or  with  attributes  relating  to  their 
element. 

5.  The  Satyrs.— In  contrast  to  the  Nymphs,  or  fe- 
male personifications  of  the  life  of  nature,  we  find  a  num- 
ber of  inferior  wood  and  water  deities  of  the  male  sex,  call- 
ed Satyrs,  Sileni,  and  Panes,  between  whom  it  is  difficult 
to  distinguish  clearly.  Generally  by  Satyrs  (Fauni)  we  un- 
derstand the  wood  and  mountain  spirits  proper,  who  are 
inseparably  connected  with  Dionysus,  whose  attendant 
train  they  form.  Coarse  sensuality  and  a  wanton  spirit  of 
mischief  are  the  leading  features  of  their  character.  On 
account  of  their  animal  propensities  they  were  fabled  to 
be  only  half  human  in  appearance,  with  blunt  noses  and 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER  WORLD.   147 

otherwise  ignoble  features,  bristling  hair,  goat -like  ears, 
and  a  goat's  tail.  Like  the  Muses,  they  love  music  and 
dancing,  their  instruments  being  the  syrinx  and  the  flute, 
together  with  cymbals  and  castanets.  Like  their  master, 
they  were  passionately  addicted  to  excessive  indulgence  in 
wine;  but  whereas  in  the  former  this  produced  only  a 
rapturous  enthusiasm  and  an  exalted  frame  of  mind,  with 
them  its  effects  were  purely  sensual,  and  excited  them  to 
insane  and  unseemly  pranks  of  all  kinds. 


Pig.  42.— Head  of  Satyr.    Munich  Sculpture  Gallery. 

The  satyrs  were  not  an  uncommon  subject  of  representation  among 
ancient  artists.  The  conception  was  based  on  the  original  hideous 
half -man,  half -animal  type;  and  in  art,  as  well  as  in  poetry,  the 
blunt  nose,  the  pointed  ears,  and  the  goat's  tail  form  their  character, 
istic  features.  The  Bacchic  insignia  of  a  band  roumd  the  brow  and 
an  ivy  garland  also  belong  to  them.  There  are  some  particularly 
fine  antique  statues  of  satyrs  in  the  art-collections  of  Munich  and 
Rome.  The  engraving  (Fig.  42)  shows  the  highly  expressive  fact 
of  a  satyr  in  the  Munich  collection. 


148          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

6.  Silemis. — Silenus,  according  to  the  common  tradi. 
tion,  was  an  old  satyr  who  tended  and  brought  up  Diony- 
sus, and  afterward  became  the  faithful  companion  of  his 
wanderings.  He  is  depicted  by  the  poets  as  a  somewhat 
elderly  man,  with  blunt  nose  and  bald  head,  hairy  chest 
and  thighs,  and  a  stomach  so  large  that  he  can  scarcely 
walk.  He  generally  appears  riding  on  an  ass  in  front  of 
the  Bacchic  company,  with  a  satyr  on  either  side  support- 
ing his  half-drunken  form. 

The  artists  of  antiquity  seem  to  have  devoted  themselves  frequent- 
ly to  the  subject  of  Silenus.  They  either  represented  him  as  the 
nurse  and  preceptor  of  the  youthful  Bacchus,  holding  the  child  in  his 
arms  and  regarding  him  with  a  look  of  affection,  in  which  the  comic 
element  is  entirely  lacking,  or  they  present  him  to  us  as  the  insatiable 
but  good-natured  wine -bibber.  His  standing  attribute  is  the  wine- 
skin, besides  which,  like  other  members  of  the  Bacchic  train,  he 
bears  a  thyrsus  and  ivy  garland. 

Besides  Silenus,  who  was  celebrated  as  the  preceptor  of 
Dionysus,  there  was  a  whole  tribe  of  Sileni.  Whether  this 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  older  satyrs  were  called  Sileni, 
or  whether  they  form  a  special  class  of  deities  presiding 
over  the  flowing,  gushing  water,  cannot  be  determined  with 
any  certainty. 

Among  the  Sileni  were  two  personages  who  play  a  part 
in  the  story  of  Dionysus.  These  were  Marsyas  and  Midas. 
The  former,  like  all  satyrs,  was  an  accomplished  master  of 
the  flute,  and  challenged  Apollo  to  a  trial  of  skill  which 
proved  fatal  to  him.  The  conditions  of  the  contest  were 
that  he  who  was  vanquished  should  put  himself  entirely  in 
the  power  of  his  adversary.  Apollo  won,  and  made  a  cruel 
use  of  his  victory  by  hanging  Marsyas  on  a  pine-tree  and 
flaying  him  alive. 

Midas  was  the  mythic  founder  of  the  kingdom  of  Phryg- 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER  WORLD.   149 

ia,  in  Asia  Minor,  whither  he  had  emigrated  from  Mace- 
donia. Tradition  makes  him  a  son  of  Cybele,  and,  as  her 
favorite,  endowed  with  fabulous  wealth.  But,  like  many 
of  the  sons  of  men  in  the  present  day,  the  richer  he  grew, 
the  greater  was  his  thirst  for  gold,  until  it  betrayed  him 
at  length  into  an  act  of  great  folly.  One  day,  the  drunk- 
en Silenus  strayed  from  the  company  of  Bacchus  into  the 
garden  of  Midas.  The  latter  received  him  with  great  hos- 
pitality, and  after  entertaining  him  sumptuously  for  ten 
days  brought  him  to  Bacchus.  Pleased  with  his  kindness, 
the  god  rewarded  him  with  the  gratification  of  any  wish 
he  might  make.  Midas  now  wished  that  everything  he 
touched  might  turn  to  gold.  Naturally  the  gratification 
of  this  wish  wellnigh  proved  his  ruin;  and  he  only  es- 
caped by  washing,  at  the  command  of  the  god,  in  the  riv- 
er Pactolus,  which  has  ever  since  washed  down  gold  in  its 
sands.  A  later  fable  makes  Midas  the  judge  in  the  rivalry 
of  Apollo  and  Pan,  on  which  occasion  he  decided  in  favor 
of  the  latter,  for  which  the  god  changed  his  ears  into  those 
of  an  ass.  The  object  of  this  fable  is  obviously  only  to 
account  for  the  Silenic  form  of  Midas. 

7.  Greek  and  Roman  "Wood-spirits. — 1.  Pan. — 
Pan  was  a  very  ancient  god  of  the  woods  and  meadows. 
He  was  first  honored  only  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  moun- 
tain-land of  Arcadia  and  by  other  pastoral  tribes.  Subse- 
quently his  divinity  was  more  generally  acknowledged  and 
more  highly  esteemed.  Common  accounts  make  him  the 
son  of  Hermes  by  the  nymph  Penelope,  a  daughter  of  Dry- 
ops.  His  mother  was  not  a  little  terrified  at  his  birth, 
since  he  was  hairy  all  over,  and  had  horns  and  goat's  feet. 
His  father  wrapped  him  in  a  hare -skin,  and  bore  him  to 


150         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

Olympus,  where  the  assembled  gods  showed  no  small  pleas- 
ure at  the  sight  of  the  strange  little  wood-demon.  From 
time  immemorial  Pan  was  regarded  by  the  shepherds  of 
Greece  as  their  most  doughty  protector;  for  which  rea- 
son the  mountain  caves  in  which  they  gathered  their  herds 
together  at  night,  or  in  threatening  weather,  were  held  sa- 
cred to  him.  There  were  many  such  caves  of  Pan  in  the 
mountains  of  Arcadia,  and  also  one  at  the  foot  of  the 
Acropolis  at  Athens,  besides  others  on  Mount  Parnassus, 
in  Boeotia,  and  elsewhere.  Pan  was  esteemed  a  god  of 
great  cheerfulness  and  activity  of  character,  who  loved  to 
range  the  woods  as  a  huntsman,  and  was  on  this  account 
regarded  with  little  less  veneration  by  huntsmen  than  by 
shepherds.  He  was  also  looked  on  as  the  patron  of  fishing 
and  bee-keeping. 

As  the  god  of  shepherds,  Pan  was  also  a  lover  of  music, 
and  on  returning  in  the  evening  from  the  chase,  says  the 
Homeric  story,  he  was  wont  to  play  sweet  tunes  on  his 
panVpipe  (syrinx),  while  the  Oreads,  or  mountain-nymphs, 
sung  the  praises  of  the  gods  and  led  off  their  spirited 
dances.  The  poets  have  founded  a  story  on  his  discovery 
of  the  syrinx.  They  invented  a  fabulous  nymph  called 
Syrinx,  with  whom  Pan  was  supposed  to  have  fallen  vio- 
lently in  love.  The  nymph,  however,  did  not  return  his 
affection,  and  fled  from  his  embraces.  Pan  pursued  her, 
and  in  her  extremity  she  sought  the  aid  of  Gsea,  who  trans- 
formed her  into  a  reed.  Out  of  this  reed  Pan,  by  joining 
seven  pieces  together,  made  an  instrument  which  he  called 
the  syrinx,  after  the  nymph. 

Pan  was  as  passionately  fond  of  dancing  as  of  music. 
According  to  Pindar,  he  was  the  most  accomplished  dancer 
among  the  gods.  His  favorite  amusement  was  to  dance 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER  WORLD.   151 

in  company  with  the  mountain-nymphs,  on  which  occa- 
sions he  regaled  them  with  every  kind  of  droll  leap,  in  the 
performance  of  which  his  goat's  feet  stood  him  in  good 
stead. 

As  a  wood-deity,  Pan  also  possessed  the  gift  of  proph- 
ecy ;  indeed,  according  to  some,  it  was  he  who  first  impart- 
ed this  gift  to  Apollo.  He  certainly  had  a  very  ancient 
oracle  at  Acacesium,  in  Arcadia. 

Wild  mountainous  country  and  the  thick  untrodden  for- 
est are  both  alike  apt  to  impress  the  lonely  traveller  with 
feelings  of  awe.  All  such  sensations  of  sudden  and  unac- 
countable fear  were  ascribed  to  Pan  (Panic).  He  was  also 
said  to  delight  in  terrifying  travellers  with  all  kinds  of 
strange  noises.  Hence,  at  a  later  period,  arose  the  story 
that  in  the  contest  with  the  Titans  he  rendered  good  serv- 
ice to  Zeus  by  blowing  on  a  shell  trumpet  which  he  had  in- 
vented, whereupon  the  Titans  were  seized  with  a  sudden 
terror.  This,  however,  is  only  another  version  of  Triton's 
services  at  the  battle  with  the  giants.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  Athenians  introduced  the  worship  of  Pan,  to 
which  they  had  been  hitherto  strangers,  into  their  city  af- 
ter the  battle  of  Marathon,  in  consequence  of  the  assistance 
which  they  believed  they  had  received  from  the  god. 

Such  are  the  more  ancient  and  simple  features  of  the 
character  of  Pan.  He  assumed  a  higher  significance  when 
men  began  to  regard  him  as  the  companion  of  the  "  Mighty 
Mother,"  and  assigned  him  a  place  in  the  Bacchic  circle. 
Men  now  saw  in  him  a  productive  force  of  nature  like  the 
Phrygian  Attis ;  indeed,  in  consequence  of  a  misinterpre- 
tation of  his  name,  he  was  made  the  creator  and  god  of 
the  universe. 

After  he  had  once  been  introduced  into  the  company  of 


152 


GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 


Dionysus,  poets  and  artists  alike  set  themselves  to  work  to 
invent  a  number  of  Panes  and  little  Pans  (Panisci),  who 
were  easily  confounded  with  the  Satyrs  and  Sileni. 

The  chief  shrine  of  Pan  was  at  Acacesium,  in  Arcadia. 
Cows,  goats,  and  sheep  were  sacrificed  to  him,  besides  of- 
ferings of  milk,  honey,  and  new  wine. 

In  art  we  must  distinguish  the  earlier  and  later  types  of  the  god. 
i'n  the  former,  which  dates  from  the  best  days  of  Greek  art,  he  is 
conceived  as  entirely  human  in  appearance,  with  the  exception  of  two 
sprouting  horns  on  either  side  of  the  forehead.  Later  he  was  depict- 


Fig.  43 — Pan.    From  a  Mural  Painting  at  Hercnlanenm. 

ed  with  larger  horns,  a  long  goat's  beard,  and  goat's  feet.  We  give 
an  engraving  of  this  later  conception  (Fig.  43),  which  is  taken  from  a 
mural  painting  at  Naples.  The  usual  attributes  of  Pan  are  a  syrinx 
and  shepherd's  crook,  sometimes  also  a  pine  garland. 

2.  Silvanus, — Among  the  Roman  wood-deities,  Silvanus 
occupies  a  position  most  akin  to  that  of  Pan,  although 
they  are  not  exactly  identical.  His  name,  derived  from 
silva  (wood),  points  him  out  as  the  god  of  the  forest, 
where  he  was  supposed  to  dwell,  a  deity  kindly  disposed 
towards  mankind,  and  propitious  to  the  welfare  of  trees, 
plants,  and  cattle.  At  times,  however,  he  appears,  like 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER  WORLD.   153 

Pan,  as  a  mischievous  sprite,  who  delights  to  trick  and  ter- 
rify the  lonely  traveller.  His  sphere  of  activity  was  not 
confined  to  the  woods,  since  he  was  also  regarded  as  the 
author  of  fruitfulness  in  gardens  and  orchards.  In  this 
character  Silvanus  bears  a  close  resemblance  to  Terminus, 
the  god  of  boundaries  and  landed  property,  inasmuch  as  he 
preserves  fields,  gardens,  and  houses  from  harm.  The  first 
of  the  fruits  of  the  field  were  offered  to  him.  He  had  two 
shrines  in  Rome,  one  on  the  Viminal  and  another  on  the 
Aventine. 

Artists  and  poets  agree  in  representing  Silvanus  as  an  old  man 
with  a  rustic  head-gear,  scattering  blooming  lilies  and  other  flowers. 
He  is  usually  distinguished  by  a  pruning-knife. 

3.  Faunus  and  Fauna. — Closely  resembling  Silvanus  is 
another  deity  called  Faunus,  one  of  the  most  ancient  na- 
tional gods  of  Italy.  He  appears  as  the  good  spirit  of  the 
mountains,  pastures,  and  plains.  He  was  regarded  by  the 
shepherds  as  their  best  protector,  since  he  made  their  cat- 
tle fruitful  and  drove  off  noxious  beasts  of  prey.  In  the 
former  character  he  was  also  called  Inuus  (the  fertilizer) ; 
in  the  latter  Lupercus  (the  warder-off  of  wolves). 

Like  Pan,  he  appears  to  have  his  seat  in  the  woods, 
whence  he  sometimes  terrifies  and  annoys  travellers.  At 
night,  too,  he  creeps  into  men's  houses,  and  torments  them 
with  evil  dreams  and  horrible  apparitions  (Incubus). 

Like  Pan,  too,  Faunus  possessed  the  gift  of  prophecy, 
and  answered  both  by  direct  revelations  and  by  dreams. 
In  this  character  he  was  called  Fatuus,  and  had  a  celebrated 
oracle  in  the  grove  at  Tibur,  on  the  spring  Albunea. 

Having  once  invented  a  number  of  Fauns,  the  poets  soon 
began  to  identify  them  with  the  satyrs  of  the  Greeks. 

In  honor  of  this  decidedly  national  deity,  different  festf 


154         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

vals  were  celebrated,  at  which  rams  were  sacrificed  and  li- 
bations of  wine  and  milk  made.  The  Faunalia  were  cele- 
brated on  the  Nones  of  December,  on  which  occasion  the 
guests  at  the  festive  board  surrendered  themselves  to  the 
most  unrestrained  mirth,  and  granted  many  liberties  also 
to  their  slaves.  The  Lnpercalia,  however,  formed  the  prop- 
er expiatory  festival  of  Faunus.  This  festival  was  cele- 
brated on  the  15th  of  February,  and  was  remarkable  for 
the  number  of  ancient  customs  which  were  observed.  The 
chief  of  these  was  the  course  of  the  Luperci,  or  priests  of 
Faunus,  who,  after  making  their  offering,  ran  from  the 
shrine  of  the  god  (Lupercal),  on  the  Palatine,  through  the 
streets  of  Rome,  their  only  clothing  being  an  apron  cut 
from  the  skin  of  the  slaughtered  animal.  They  struck  all 
whom  they  met  with  thongs,  also  cut  from  the  same  blood- 
stained skin.  Barren  women  placed  themselves  in  the  way 
of  the  Luperci,  believing  that  by  means  of  the  strokes  the 
reproach  of  barrenness  would  be  taken  away  from  them. 
As  a  day  of  atonement,  this  day  was  termed  dies  februa- 
tus  (from  februare,  to  purify),  whence  the  name  of  the 
month. 

The  feminine  counterpart  of  Faunus,  though  not  his 
wife,  was  Fauna,  a  propitious,  kindly  goddess  of  the  plains. 
She  is  also  called  Maia,  or  Bona  Dea.  The  women  made 
an  offering  to  her  every  year  at  night,  on  which  occasion 
males  were  strictly  excluded. 

In  art  Faunus  bears  exactly  the  same  appearance  as  Pan,  with 
whom,  indeed,  he  was  often  identified. 

8.  Priapus.— The  worship  of  Priapus,  the  god  of  fields 
and  gardens,  appears  to  have  been  long  of  a  purely  local 
character,  confined  principally  to  the  districts  on  the  Hel- 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER  WORLD.   155 

lespont,  since  he  is  not  even  mentioned  by  earlier  writers. 
He  was  the  son  of  Dionysus  and  Aphrodite,  and  presided 
over  the  exuberant  fertility  of  nature.  He  was  supposed 
to  exercise  influence  over  the  fruitfulness  of  flocks  and 
herds,  while  fishing  and  the  rearing  of  bees  were  also  placed 
under  his  protection.  His  special  sphere,  however,  was  the 
protection  of  gardens  and  vineyards.  Asses  were  sacri- 
ficed to  him,  a  fact  which  gave  rise  to  all  sorts  of  comical 
stories  relating  to  the  hostility  of  Priapus  to  this  animal. 
Besides  this,  he  received  the  first-fruits  of  the  garden  and 
fields,  and  drink-offerings  of  milk  and  honey.  The  wor- 
ship of  Priapus  was  introduced  into  Italy  at  the  same  time 
as  that  of •  Aphrodite,  and  he  was  identified  with  the  native 
Mutunus. 

This  deity  was  scarcely  noticed  in  higher  art.  In  the  gardens  of 
Italy,  however,  rough-hewn  pillars  of  wood,  similar  to  those  of  Her- 
mes, were  erected  in  his  honor.  He  is  usually  distinguished  by  a 
pruning-knife  and  club. 

9.  Saturnns  and  Ops. — Before  passing  to  Deme- 
ter,  or  Ceres,  the  great  goddess  of  civilization,  to  whom  by 
Greeks  and  Romans  alike  the  blessings  of  the  harvest  were 
ascribed,  and  who  forms  the  best  link  between  the  gods 
of  the  upper  and  lower  worlds,  we  must  pause  to  consider 
some  gods  of  agriculture  and  cattle-rearing  peculiar  to  the 
Romans.  Among  them  are  Saturn  and  Ops,  who  belong 
to  the  most  ancient  national  deities  of  Italy.  To  Saturn 
was  ascribed  the  introduction  of  agriculture,  together  with 
the  cultivation  of  the  vine  and  other  fruits.  He  was,  there- 
fore, venerated  as  the  great  benefactor  of  mankind,  who  not 
only  promoted  the  physical  welfare  of  men,  but  who  also 
introduced  a  higher  standard  of  civilization.  After  the 
Romans  had  become  acquainted  with  the  mythology  of  the 


156  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

Greeks,  they  identified  him  with  Cronus.  In  consequence 
of  this,  the  story  arose  that,  after  his  dethronement  by  Ju- 
piter, Saturn  fled  to  Italy,  where  he  was  hospitably  received 
by  Janus.  There  he  is  said  to  have  brought  together  the 
inhabitants,  who  had  hitherto  wandered  about  without  any 
fixed  homes,  and  to  have  united  them  in  regular  political 
communities,  over  which  he  himself  ruled.  This  was  the 
Golden  Age.  In  remembrance  of  the  happy  age  when  men 
were  not  yet  troubled  by  sorrow  or  need,  the  Saturnalia 
were  celebrated  during  three  days,  beginning  from  the  17th 
of  December.  This  festival,  which,  with  changed  meaning, 
still  continues  in  the  Carnival  of  the  present  day,  was  cel- 
ebrated in  Rome  with  particularly  great  splendor.  Un- 
bounded festivity  reigned  throughout  the  whole  town,  and 
vented  itself  in  every  description  of  joke  and  prank.  The 
distinctions  of  class  were  suspended,  the  courts  and  schools 
kept  holiday,  and  the  shops  were  closed.  The  chief  day 
was  the  19th  of  December,  which  was  especially  a  festive 
day  for  the  slaves,  for  on  this  day  there  were  practically  no 
slaves  in  Rome.  No  services  were  required  of  them,  and 
they  were  allowed  to  don  the  clothes  of  their  masters,  and 
to  eat  and  drink  as  much  as  they  liked,  while  their  masters 
waited  on  them  at  table.  And  this  custom  allowed  a  class, 
otherwise  subject  to  so  many  afflictions,  to  forget  their  sor- 
rows for  at  least  one  day  in  a  year.  Wealthy  Romans  gen- 
erally kept  open  house  on  this  day,  and  vied  with  each  oth- 
er in  the  splendor  of  their  hospitalities ;  and,  of  course,  a 
solemn  sacrifice  was  made  to  Saturn.  The  woollen  band- 
ages which,  during  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  enveloped 
the  feet  of  his  statue  in  order  that  he  might  not  depart 
without  vouchsafing  a  blessing,  were  on  this  day  unloosed, 
and  throughout  the  night  the  temple  was  illuminated  with 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER,  WORLD.   157 

wax -tapers.  This  festival,  which  was  extremely  popular 
among  the  Romans,  was  also  celebrated  with  games  in  the 
circus. 

The  chief  temple  of  Saturn,  which  was  begun  by  Tar- 
quinius  Superbus,  and  finished  in  the  first  years  of  the  Re- 
public, was  situated  on  the  ascent  to  the  Capitol  from  the 
Forum.  Beneath  it  was  a  vault  containing  the  State  treas- 
ury, or  cemrium,  the  guardianship  of  the  State  treasures  be- 
ing committed  to  this  god  as  the  dispenser  of  every  blessing. 

Regarded  as  the  wife  of  Saturn,  and  therefore  identified 
with  Rhea,  Ops  was  the  goddess  of  the  seed-time  and  har- 
vest. On  this  account  her  worship  was  closely  connected 
with  that  of  Saturn,  and  she  had  a  place  in  his  temple  on 
the  Capitoline.  A  festival  was  celebrated  in  honor  of  her 
on  the  25th  of  August,  when  the  newly  gathered  corn  was 
threshed. 

When  taken  together,  Saturn  and  Ops  were  regarded  as 
deities  who  presided  over  marriage  and  the  education  of 
children,  it  being  an  easy  step  from  the  deity  of  the  sprout- 
ing, ripening  seed,  to  that  of  the  budding,  thriving  season 
of  human  life. 

Saturn  is  always  represented  as  an  old  man,  and  is  generally  dis- 
tinguished by  a  pruning-knife  or  sickle. 

10.  Vertumnus  and  Pomona.  —  Vertumnus  and 
Pomona  much  resemble  Saturn  and  Ops,  the  only  differ- 
ence being  that  the  former  exert  their  influence  solely  on 
the  growth  and  welfare  of  the  fruits  of  the  garden  and  or- 
chard. Vertumnus  properly  signifies  the  self -changing  one ; 
referring,  probably,  to  the  manifold  changes  which  the  fruit 
undergoes  from  the  time  of  its  first  appearance  in  blossom 
to  that  of  its  maturity.  For  the  same  reason  the  god  was 


158          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

said  to  possess  the  faculty  of  assuming  any  shape  he  liked. 
The  first  of  the  flowers  and  fruits  were  offered  to  him. 
Pomona,  as  her  name  signifies,  was  the  goddess  of  the  fruit 
harvest,  and  called  by  the  poets  the  wife  of  Vertumnus. 
Each  deity  had  a  special  priest  (flamen),  though  the  latter 
naturally  held  only  an  inferior  position. 

In  art  Vertumnus  generally  appears  as  a  beautiful  youth,  his  head 
crowned  with  a  garland  of  ears  of  corn  or  laurel,  with  a  horn  of 
plenty,  as  a  symbol  of  the  blessings  he  bestows,  in  his  right  hand. 
He  is  sometimes  distinguished  by  a  dish  filled  with  fruit,  or  a  prun- 
ing-knife.  Pomona  is  generally  represented  as  the  season  of  Au- 
tumn, a  beautiful  maiden  with  boughs  of  fruit-trees  in  her  hand. 

1 1 .  Flora. — Among  the  inferior  deities  of  the  plain  was 
Flora,  the  goddess  of  blossoms  and  flowers,  who  was  held 
in  great  honor  by  the  Sabines,  and  everywhere  in  the  inte- 
rior of  Italy.     Her  worship  is  said  to  have  been  introduced 
into  Rome  by  Numa,  who  assigned  the  goddess  a  priest  of 
her  own.     She  attained  a  higher  significance  by  becoming 
a  goddess  of  maternity,  whom  women  invoked  before  their 
confinement.     Her  festival  was  celebrated  with  great  re- 
joicings from  the  28th  of  April  to  the  1st  of  May  (Floralia). 
The  doors  of  the  houses  were  adorned  with  flowers,  and 
wreaths  were  worn  in  the  hair.     After  the  first  Punic  war, 
the  festival,  which  was  remarkable  throughout  for  its  merry 
and  tumultuous  character,  was  also  celebrated  with  games, 
hares  and  deer  being  hunted  in  the  circus. 

Artists  appear  to  have  represented  Flora  as  the  season  of  spring, 
In  the  guise  of  a  beautiful  girl  crowned  with  flowers.  There  is  a  fine 
warble  statue  of  this  kind,  larger  than  life,  in  the  museum  at  Naples, 
called  the  Farnese  Flora. 

1 2.  Pales. — Pales  was  the  ancient  pastoral  goddess  of 
the  Italian  tribes,  from  whom  the  name  Palatine,  which  orig- 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER  WORLD.   159 

inally  meant  nothing  but  a  pastoral  colony,  was  derived. 
She  was  especially  venerated  by  the  shepherds,  who  be- 
sought her  to  send  fruitfulness  and  health  to  their  flocks. 
A  festival  in  her  honor  was  celebrated  on  the  21st  of  April, 
the  anniversary  of  the  foundation  of  the  city  (Palilia),  at 
which  very  ancient  rustic  customs  were  observed.  The 
most  remarkable  of  these  was  the  kindling  of  a  large  straw 
fire,  through  which  the  shepherds  rushed  with  their  flocks, 
thinking  thus  to  purify  themselves  from  their  sins.  Milk 
and  baked  millet-cakes  were  offered  to  the  goddess.  There 
is  no  statue  of  her  now  in  existence. 

13.  Terminus. — Terminus,  although  he  had  nothing 
to  do  either  with  the  welfare  of  the  crops  or  the  fruitful- 
ness  of  the  flocks,  may  yet  be  reckoned  among  the  field 
deities,  as  the  god  who  specially  presided  over  boundaries. 
All  landmarks  were  held  sacred  to  him,  and  their  erection 
was  attended  with  religious  ceremonies.  In  order  that  his 
people  might  fully  appreciate  the  sanctity  of  boundaries, 
King  Numa  instituted  a  special  festival  in  honor  of  the 
god,  called  the  Terminalia,  and  annually  celebrated  on  the 
23d  of  February.  The  proprietors  of  lands  bordering  on 
each  other  were  wont  on  this  occasion  to  crown  the  boun- 
dary-stone with  garlands,  and  to  make  an  offering  of  a  flat 
cake  to  the  god. 

In  his  wider  signification  Terminus  was  regarded  as  the 
god  under  whose  protection  the  boundaries  of  the  State 
reposed,  and  in  this  character  he  had  a  chapel  in  the  tem- 
ple of  Minerva,  on  the  Capitol.  A  statue  of  the  god  also 
stood  in  the  midst  of  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus, 
which  is  explained  by  the  following  story :  After  Tarquin- 
ius  had  conceived  the  plan  of  building  the  great  temple 


160  GREEK    AND    KOMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

of  Jupiter  on  the  Capitol,  the  limited  space  necessitated 
the  removal  of  several  existing  shrines,  which,  could  only 
occur  with  the  consent  of  the  deities  themselves.  They 
all  expressed  by  means  of  auguries  their  readiness  to  make 
way  for  the  highest  god  of  heaven,  except  Terminus,  who 
refused,  and  whose  shrine  had,  therefore,  to  be  included  in 
the  temple  of  Jupiter. 

Statues  of  Terminus  are  exactly  like  the  Hermae  of  the  Greeks,  and 
have  no  importance  in  art. 

14.  Demeter  (Ceres). — Demeter  was  a  daughter  of 
Cronus  and  Rhea.  Her  name  signifies  Mother  Earth,  and 
she  is,  therefore,  an  expression  of  the  ancient  conception 
of  the  earth-goddess,  with  a  special  reference  to  nature  and 
human  civilization.  The  thriving  of  the  crops  was  as- 
cribed to  her  influence;  she  was  further  regarded  as  the 
patroness  of  all  those  arts  which  are  more  or  less  intimate- 
ly connected  with  agriculture,  and  which  men  first  learned 
from  her.  Demeter  thus  rises  to  the  rank  of  a  goddess  of 
civilization.  She  rescued  men  by  means  of  agriculture 
from  the  lower  grades  of  hunters  and  shepherds,  and 
brought  their  former  rude  and  barbarous  manners  into 
subjection  to  law  and  morality.  She  thus  becomes  that 
"  bountiful  daughter  of  Heaven,"  who,  as  Schiller  sings,  in 
his  "  Lay  of  the  Bell :" 

"  Of  old 

Called  the  wild  man  from  waste  and  wold. 
And,  in  his  hut  thy  presence  stealing, 
Roused  each  familiar  household  feeling ; 

And,  best  of  all  the  happy  ties, 
The  centre  of  the  social  band — 
The  Instinct  of  the  Father-land !" 

Regarded  in  this  light,  she  comes  into  contact  with  Dio 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER  WORLD.   161 

nysus,  whose  beneficial  influence  on  human  civilization  and 
manners  we  have  already  described.  This  accounts  for 
the  intimate  connection  of  these  two  deities  in  the  Eleu^ 
sinian  mysteries,  where  Dionysus-Iacchus  even  appears  as 
the  son  of  Demeter  and  the  husband  of  Cora-Persephone, 
Owing  to  the  important  part  she  played  in  the  institution 
of  law  and  order  among  mankind,  she  was  venerated  as  the 
goddess  of  marriage,  marriage  being  the  necessary  founda- 
tion of  civil  society.  She  was  also  regarded  as  the  tutelary 
goddess  of  national  assemblies. 

Of  the  numerous  legends  which  are  linked  with  the 
name  of  this  goddess,  none  perhaps  is  more  celebrated,  or 
more  pregnant  with  meaning  in  regard  to  her  worship, 
than  the  rape  of  her  daughter  Persephone,  or  Cora.  The 
latter  was  once  playing  with  the  daughters  of  Oceanus  in 
a  flowery  meadow,  where  they  were  picking  flowers  and 
making  garlands.  Persephone  happened  to  quit  her  com- 
panions for  a  moment  to  pluck  a  narcissus  she  had  per- 
ceived, when  suddenly  the  ground  opened  at  her  feet,  and 
Pluto,  or  Hades,  the  god  of  the  infernal  regions,  appeared 
in  a  chariot  drawn  by  snorting  horses.  Swift  as  the  wind 
he  seized  and  carried  off  the  terrified  maiden  in  spite  of 
her  struggles,  and  vanished  again  into  the  regions  of  dark- 
ness before  her  companions  were  aware  of  the  catastrophe. 
All  this  occurred,  however,  with  the  knowledge  of  Zeus, 
who  had,  unknown  to  Demeter,  promised  her  daughter  to 
Pluto.  When  Demeter  missed  her  darling  child,  and  none 
could  tell  her  where  she  had  gone,  she  kindled  torches,  and 
during  many  days  and  nights  wandered  in  anxiety  through 
all  the  countries  of  the  earth,  not  even  resting  for  food  or 
sleep.  At  length  Helios,  who  sees  and  hears  every  thing, 
Demeter  what  had  happened,  not  disguising,  however, 
11 


162  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

that  it  had  occurred  with  the  consent  of  Zeus.  Full  of 
wrath  and  grief,  the  goddess  now  withdrew  from  the  soci- 
ety of  the  other  gods  into  the  deepest  solitude.  Mean- 
while all  the  fruits  of  the  earth  ceased,  and  a  general  fam- 
ine threatened  to  extinguish  the  human  race.  In  vain 
Zeus  sent  one  messenger  after  another,  beseeching  the  an- 
gry goddess  to  return  to  Olympus.  Demeter  swore  that 
she  would  neither  return  nor  allow  the  fruits  of  the  earth 
to  grow  until  her  daughter  was  restored  to  her.  At  length 
Zeus  was  fain  to  consent,  and  despatched  Hermes  to  the 
lower  world  to  bring  Persephone  back.  Persephone  joy- 
fully prepared  to  obey  this  command;  but  as  she  was  about 
to  depart,  Hades  gave  her  a  pomegranate-seed  to  eat,  where- 
upon she  found  herself  bound  to  him  and  unable  to  return. 
By  means  of  Zeus,  however,  a  compact  was  made  by  which 
Persephone  was  to  spend  two -thirds  of  the  year  in  the 
upper  world  with  her  mother,  and  the  remaining  portion 
with  her  husband.  And  thus  every  year  at  spring-tide  she 
ascends  from  her  subterraneous  kingdom  to  enjoy  herself 
in  her  mother's  company,  but  returns  again  late  in  autumn 
to  the  regions  of  darkness  and  death. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  discover  the  meaning  of  this  myth. 
It  is  simply  an  allegorical  representation  of  the  spectacle 
that  is  annually  renewed  before  our  eyes — the  dying-away 
and  coming  to  life  again  of  the  vegetable  world.  While 
Cora  is  dwelling  during  the  winter  months  in  the  realms 
of  Hades,  Nature  appears  to  wear  a  garb  of  mourning  for 
her  lost  daughter.  In  the  Eleusinian  mysteries  this  inevi- 
table decease  and  resurrection  of  the  vegetable  world  were 
conceived  as  a  symbol  of  higher  meaning,  setting  forth  the 
immortality  of  the  soul.  Every  living  being  shares  the 
fate  of  Cora ;  every  life  becomes  the  prey  of  cold,  inexora- 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER  WORLD.   163 

ble  death,  only  to  arise  from  the  darkness  of  the  grave 
more  beautiful  and  glorious  than  before. 

Closely  connected  with  this  beautiful  and  expressive 
myth  is  another  which  refers  to  the  institution  of  the 
Eleusinian  mysteries.  When  Demeter,  after  the  loss  of 
her  daughter,  was  wandering  over  the  earth  in  the  guise  of 
a  poor  old  woman,  she  came  to  Eleusis.  The  daughters  of 
Celeiis,  the  king  of  the  city,  found  her  sitting  on  a  stone 
by  the  Maidens'  Well  as  they  came  thither  to  draw  water, 
and  offered  the  old  woman  service  in  their  father's  house 
as  nurse  to  their  youngest  brother,  Demophon.  The  god- 
dess consented,  and  was  kindly  received  in  the  house  of 
Celeus,  where  she  was  at  once  installed  as  nurse  to  the 
young  prince.  She  became  so  fond  of  the  child  that  she 
resolved  to  make  him  immortal  by  anointing  him  with 
ambrosia,  and  then  laying  him  at  night  in  the  glow  of  the 
fire.  She  was  discovered  at  her  work,  however,  by  the 
mother  of  the  child,  whose  cries  disturbed  her,  and  thus 
prevented  her  from  fulfilling  her  benevolent  intention. 
She  now  revealed  herself  to  Celeus,  and  commanded  him 
to  build  her  a  temple  in  Eleusis.  When  it  had  been  has- 
tily completed,  with  the  help  of  the  goddess,  she  initiated 
Celeus  and  some  other  princes  of  Eleusis  —  Triptolemus, 
Eumolpus,  and  Diocles — in  the  solemn  rites  of  her  service. 
On  Triptolemus,  who  is  called  the  son  of  Celeus,  she  im- 
posed the  task  of  disseminating  a  knowledge  of  agriculture 
and  of  her  own  worship  throughout  the  earth,  and  for  this 
purpose  lent  him  her  own  chariot  and  dragons.  On  this 
he  travelled  through  the  countries  of  the  earth,  making 
known  everywhere  the  blessings  of  agriculture,  and  uniting 
men  in  regular  political  communities.  He  was  not  well 
received  in  all  places,  and  the  goddess  had  sometimes  to 


164          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

step  in  and  punish  those  who  contemned  her  benefits. 
Such  was  the  case  with  the  Scythian  king  Lynceus  and  the 
Thessalian  prince  Erysichthon ;  but  at  length  her  cause  tri- 
umphed, and  the  worship  of  the  bountiful  goddess  spread 
itself  over  the  whole  world. 

The  chief  seat  of  her  worship  was  the  city  of  Eleusis, 
which  was  beautifully  situated  on  the  Bay  of  Salamis.  It 
retained  this  honor  even  after  it  had  lost  its  independence 
and  come  into  the  possession  of  the  Athenians.  The  Eleu- 
sinian  mysteries  were  celebrated  both  here  and  at  Athens, 
in  honor  of  Demeter  and  the  deities  associated  with  her. 
They  probably  contained  a  symbolical  history  of  Cora, 

There  was  a  distinction  between  the  greater  and  lesser 
mysteries.  The  latter  were  celebrated  at  Athens  in  the 
month  of  Anthesterion  (February),  and  were  a  kind  of 
preparation  for  the  greater  mysteries,  which  took  place  in 
September,  and  were  celebrated  during  nine  days,  partly  at 
Athens  and  partly  at  Eleusis.  In  these  secret  rites  only 
those  could  take  part  who  had  been  initiated.  The  chief 
feature  of  the  festival  was  a  great  and  solemn  procession 
on  the  sixth  day  from  Athens  to  Eleusis,  a  distance  of 
about  twelve  miles.  All  those  who  took  part  in  it — often 
as  many  as  30,000 — were  crowned  with  myrtle,  and  bore 
torches  in  their  hands,  as  the  procession  started  from  Ath- 
ens at  the  earliest  dawn. 

The  festival  of  the  Thesmophoria,  which  was  celebrated 
at  the  beginning  of  November,  in  honor  of  Demeter  in  her 
character  of  lawgiver  and  goddess  of  marriage,  was  less  im- 
portant than  the  Eleusinia.  It  lasted  for  five  days,  and 
only  married  women  were  allowed  to  take  part  in  it. 

The  Ceres  of  the  Romans,  though  undoubtedly  an  an- 
cient Italian  goddess,  was  the  very  counterpart  of  the  Greek 


Fig.  44.—  Demeter  Enthroned.    Paiutiug  from  Pompeii,  Naples. 


166          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

Demeter,  with  whom,  after  the  successful  introduction  of 
her  worship  during  the  first  years  of  the  Republic,  she  was 
entirely  identified. 

The  chief  festival  of  Ceres  and  her  associate  deities, 
Liber  and  Libera,  fell  on  the  19th  of  April,  which,  as  the 
proper  spring  month,  was  especially  dedicated  by  the  in- 
habitants of  Italy  to  deities  presiding  over  agriculture. 
The  Cerealia  were  opened  by  a  grand  procession,  in  which 
every  one  was  clothed  in  white.  It  was  further  celebrated 
with  solemn  sacrifices  and  games  in  the  circus,  the  manage- 
ment of  which  lay  with  the  plebeian  aediles. 

The  usual  sacrifice,  both  among  Greeks  and  Romans, 
was  the  sow  (the  symbol  of  fruitfulness),  but,  besides  this, 
cows  and  the  first-fruits  of  the  trees  and  hives  were  offered 
to  her. 

In  the  representations  of  the  goddess  an  expression  of  lofty  dig- 
nity is  blended  with  condescending  benevolence  and  gentleness.  Her 
principal  attributes  are  a  torch,  a  sheaf  of  corn,  a  garland  of  ears  of 
corn  interwoven  in  her  hair,  and  a  basket  filled  with  flowers  at  her 
side.  Among  the  few  antique  statues,  a  large  marble  figure  in  the 
Capitoline  Museum  at  Rome  deserves  especial  mention.  The  engrav- 
ing (Fig.  44),  which  is  after  a  Pompeian  painting,  depicts  Demeter  as 
the  bountiful  goddess  of  agriculture.  She  is  seated  on  a  throne,  and 
holds  a  torch  consisting  of  two  calyces  in  her  right  hand,  and  a  bunch 
of  corn  in  her  left. 

15.  Persephone  (Proserpina).  —  In  Persephone, 
the  goddess  of  the  lower  world,  whom  the  Athenians  pre- 
ferred to  call  by  her  mystic  name  of  Cora,  two  distinct 
conceptions  are  embodied.  On  the  one  hand  she  appears 
as  the  wife  of  the  dark  god  of  the  lower  world — like  him, 
a  gloomy,  awe-inspiring  deity,  who  pitilessly  drags  down 
all  that  lives  into  the  hidden  depths  of  the  earth ;  whence 
the  grave  is  called  the  chamber  of  Persephone.  Such  is 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER  WORLD.   167 

the  view  of  her  taken  by  Homer  and  later  epic  poets. 
These  represent  her  as  sitting  enthroned  at  the  side  of 
her  grim  lord,  the  joyless  queen  of  the  infernal  regions,  to 
dwell  in  which  were  worse  than  to  be  a  slave  on  earth. 
On  the  other  hand,  she  appears  as  Cora,  the  lovely  daugh- 
ter of  the  all-bountiful  Mother  Earth ;  a  personification,  in 
fact,  of  that  never-dying  force  of  nature  which,  year  by 
year,  causes  the  most  luxuriant  vegetation  to  spring  up  be- 
fore our  eyes,  only,  however,  to  die  away  again  in  the  au- 
tumn. In  a  somewhat  narrower  sense  Persephone  may  be 
regarded  as  a  type  of  the  grain,  which  long  remains  in  the 
ground  where  it  has  been  sown  as  though  dead,  but  after- 
ward breaks  forth  into  new  life.  It  was  only  natural  to 
associate  with  this  last  conception  ideas  of  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  of  which,  in  the  secret  doctrines  of  the  mys- 
teries, Persephone  was  a  symbol.  Though  we  know  but 
little  concerning  the  details  of  the  mysteries,  we  are  yet 
aware  that  their  chief  object  was  to  disseminate  better  and 
purer  ideas  of  a  future  life  than  the  popular  faith  of  the 
Greeks  afforded.  It  was  commonly  believed  that  the  souls 
of  men  after  death  led  a  dull,  miserable  existence  in  the 
world  of  shadows.  Those  initiated  in  the  mysteries,  how- 
ever, were  taught  that  death  was  only  a  resurrection  of 
the  soul  to  a  brighter  and  better  life,  on  the  condition,  of 

o  '  ' 

course,  that  a  man  had  fully  pleased  the  gods  and  rendered 
himself  worthy  of  such  a  happy  lot. 

Persephone,  or  Proserpina,  as  she  is  called  in  Latin,  was 
a  deity  originally  entirely  strange  to  the  Romans,  who  bor- 
rowed all  their  ideas  of  the  lower  world  from  the  Greeks. 
Nevertheless,  they  identified  her  with  Libera,  an  ancient 
rustic  goddess  of  fertility,  the  feminine  counterpart  of 
Liber,  under  which  name  she  signifies  the  same  as  the 


168         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

Greek  Cora.  Black,  barren  cows  were  sacrificed  to  Per- 
sephone as  an  infernal  goddess,  but  she  does  not  appear  to 
have  had  any  temples  of  her  own. 

Persephone  is  of  no  great  importance  in  art,  and  statues  of  her  are 
rare.     She  is  represented  either  as  the  fair  daughter  of  Demeter,  or 


Fig.  45.— Persephone  Enthroned.    Painting  from  Pompeii,  Naples. 

as  the  grave,  severe  queen  of  the  world  of  shadows.  In  the  latter 
character  she  may  generally  be  recognized  by  her  sceptre  and  dia- 
dem. Her  other  attributes  are  ears  of  corn,  a  poppy,  and  a  torch,  as 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER  WORLD.   169 

a  symbol  of  her  connection  with  the  Eleusinian  mysteries,  besides  the 
pomegranate  and  narcissus.  The  engraving  (Fig.  45),  after  a  painting 
in  the  Naples  Museum,  represents  her  as  the  Stygian  queen. 

16.  Hades  (Pluto).— The  same  twofold  nature 
which  we  meet  with  in  Persephone  may  be  observed  also 
'in  her  husband,  Hades,  or  Aidoneus  (the  invisible),  as  he 
is  called  by  the  epic  poets,  on  account  of  the  mysterious 
gloom  in  which  his  kingdom  as  well  as  his  person  was  en- 
veloped. He  first  appears  as  the  unrelenting,  inexorable 
foe  of  human  life,  on  whom  one  cannot  even  think  with- 
out fear  and  trembling.  For  this  reason,  says  Homer, 
"  he  is  of  all  the  gods  the  most  detested  among  mortals." 
This  conception,  however,  was  subsequently  supplanted  by 
one  of  a  less  dismal  nature,  in  which  the  other  side  of  his 
character  is  brought  into  prominence.  From  this  point  of 
view  he  is  represented  not  only  as  sending  nourishment  to 
plants  from  the  deep  bosom  of  the  earth,  but  also  as  offer- 
ing unbounded  riches  to  mankind  in  the  shape  of  the  pre- 
cious metals  which  lie  in  his  subterraneous  passages  and 
chambers.  In  this  sense  he  was  also  called  Pluto,  or  Plu- 
teus — that  is,  the  god  of  riches. 

Hades  belonged  to  the  earliest  deities  of  Greece,  being, 
like  Poseidon,  a  brother  of  Zeus.  When  the  three  broth- 
ers partitioned  the  universe  among  themselves,  Hades  re- 
ceived the  dark  regions  of  the  earth  as  his  exclusive  king- 
dom, the  portals  of  which  he  was  said  to  keep  closed,  in 
order  that  no  soul  might  return  to  the  upper  world  with- 
out his  consent.  He  was  also  termed  Polydectes  (the  re- 
ceiver of  many),  from  the  fact  of  his  seizing  on  all  men, 
without  distinction,  at  their  appointed  time,  and  conveying 
them  to  his  dismal  realms.  The  ideas  which  men  first  en- 
tertained as  to  the  mode  in  which  Hades  exercised  his 


170 


GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTflOLOGF. 


power  over  mortals  exactly  corresponded  with  their  grim 
conception  of  the  god.  He  was  looked  on  as  a  powerful 
and  dreaded  robber,  who,  as  in  the  case  of  Persephone, 
seizes  on  his  prey  and  carries  it  off  with  his  swift  horses. 
Later,  a  milder  conception  of  the  god  was  introduced.  The 
task  of  carrying  the  souls  of  the  dead  to  the  lower  world 
was  delegated  to  Hermes,  who  thus  became  a  servant  of 

Pluto,  the  Zeus  of  the  in- 
fernal regions,  just  as  he 
was  otherwise  a  servant  of 
the  Zeus  of  heaven.  But 
though  the  original  dismal 
conception  of  this  deity 
as  the  inexorable  god  of 
death  was  much  dimin- 
ished in  course  of  time, 
yet  Hades,  nevertheless,  ai 
ways  conveyed  an  idea  of 
something  grim  and  mys- 
terious to  the  Greek  mind ; 
which  is  perhaps  the  rea- 
son why  so  few  myths,  be- 
yond that  of  the  rape  of 
Proserpina,  were  circulated 
concerning  him.  He  can, 
in  fact,  scarcely  be  said  tc 
have  had  a  place  in  the  public  worship  of  the  Greeks. 

The  Roman  conception  of  this  deity  differed  little  from 
that  of  the  Greeks,  having  been,  in  fact,  borrowed  entirely 
from  a  Greek  source.  By  them  he  Avas  called  Pluto,  or 
Pater  Dis.  He  had  no  temple  in  Rome,  but  had,  in  com- 
mon with  Proserpina,  a  subterranean  altar  in  the  Campus 


Fig.  46.— Head  of  Hades.    Palazzo 
Chigi,  Rome. 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER  WORLD.   171 

Martius,  which,  was  uncovered  and  used  once  a  year.    Only 
black  animals  were  sacrificed  to  him. 

Artists  naturally  hesitated  to  portray  a  being  whose  very  name  they 
feared  to  pronounce,  and  consequently  antique  statues  of  Hades  are 
very  rare.  His  characteristic  features — a  grim  expression  of  coun- 
tenance, tightly  closed  lips,  and  long  tangled  hair — are  embodied  in  a 
nmrble  head,  in  the  possession  of  Prince  Chigi  at  Rome,  of  which  we 
give  an  engraving  (Fig.  46).  His  principal  attributes  are  a  sceptre,  a 
votive  bowl,  and  sometimes  a  two-pronged  fork,  or  a  key. 

17.  The  Lower  World.  — To  our  consideration  of 
Hades  we  must  add  some  remarks  on  the  ideas  which  the 
ancient  Greeks  and  Romans  had  of  the  other  life  and  of 
the  abodes  of  the  dead.  It  may  be  well  to  remark,  at  the 
outset,  that  the  Romans  do  not  originally  appear  to  have 
believed  in  a  kingdom  of  the  dead  in  the  interior  of  the 
earth,  and  that  all  their  ideas  on  this  subject  were  bor- 
rowed from  the  writings  of  the  Greeks.  Neither  do  their 
ideas  on  this  subject,  nor  even  those  of  the  Greeks,  appear 
to  have  been  invariably  the  same  at  all  times.  Even  in 
the  poetry  of  Homer  we  come  across  two  very  different 
views  as  to  the  situation  of  the  realms  of  the  dead.  Ac- 
cording to  that  which  we  find  in  the  "  Iliad,"  it  was  situ- 
ated beneath  the  disk-shaped  earth,  only  a  thin  layer  sepa- 
rating it  from  the  upper  world.  This  is  made  evident  on 
the  occasion  of  the  great  battle  of  the  gods  in  the  twenti- 
eth book,  where  we  read, 

"  Pluto,  the  infernal  monarch,  heard  alarmed, 
And,  springing  from  his  throne,  cried  out  in  fear, 
Lest  Neptune,  breaking  through  the  solid  earth, 
To  mortals  and  immortals  should  lay  bare 
His  dark  and  drear  abode  of  gods  abhorred." 

According  to  another  view,  which  prevails  in  the  "Odys- 
sey," the  world  of  shadows  was  not  situated  beneath  the 


172  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

earth,  but  lay  far  to  the  westward,  on  the  other  side  of 
Oc'eanus,  or  on  an  island  in  the  same ;  so  indefinite  and 
vague  were  men's  ideas  as  to  the  locality  of  the  kingdom  of 
death  in  the  time  of  Homer,  and  so  undeveloped  were  their 
conceptions  as  to  the  lives  of  departed  souls.  The  lower 
world  appears  as  a  desolate,  dismal  region,  where  departed 
spirits  lead  a  shadowy,  dreamy  existence,  to  reach  which 
is  no  happiness.  There  is  no  difference  in  their  lots;  for 
we  as  yet  hear  nothing  of  the  judgment  of  the  dead.  The 
Elysian  fields,  to  which  the  special  favorites  of  the  gods 
were  transferred,  form  no  part  of  the  lower  world  in  Ho- 
mer, but  were  supposed  to  lie  in  an  entirely  distinct  region 
in  the  far  West  (the  Isles  of  the  Blest).  Later  on,  the  out- 
lines of  the  lower  world  become  more  clearly  defined.  It 
was  now  supposed  to  be  a  region  in  the  centre  of  the 
earth,  with  several  passages  to  and  from  the  upper  world. 
Through  it  flowed  several  rivers — Cocytus,  Pyriphlegethon, 
Acheron,  and  Styx.  The  last  of  these  encompassed  the 
lower  world  several  times,  and  could  only  be  crossed  by 
the  aid  of  Charon,  the  ferry -man,  who  was  depicted  as  a 
sullen  old  man  with  a  bristling  beard.  The  Greeks,  there- 
fore, used  to  place  an  obolus  (small  copper  coin)  in  the 
mouths  of  their  dead,  in  order  that  the  soul  might  not  be 
turned  back  by  Charon  for  lack  of  money.  On  the  farther 
side  of  the  river,  the  portals  were  watched  by  the  dread- 
ful hell-hound  Cerberus,  a  three-headed  monster,  who  re- 
fused no  one  entrance,  but  allowed  none  to  leave  the  house 
of  Pluto.  All  souls,  on  reaching  the  lower  world,  had  to 
appear  before  the  tribunal  of  Minos,  Rhadamanthus,  and 
^Eacus.  Those  whose  lives  had  been  upright  were  then 
permitted  to  enter  Elysium,  where  they  led  a  life  of  unin- 
terrupted  bliss;  while  those  who  on  earth  had  been  crim- 


THE    GODS    OF    THE    EARTH    AND    LOWER    WORLD.      173 

inal  and  wicked  were  consigned  to  Tartarus,  where  they 
were  tormented  by  the  Furies  and  other  evil  spirits.  Those 
whose  lives  had  not  been  distinctly  good  or  bad  remained 
in  the  asphodel  meadow,  where  as  dim  shadows  they  pass- 
ed a  dull,  joyless  existence. 

The  punishments  of  great  criminals  in  the  infernal  re- 
gions were  a  fruitful  theme  for  the  imagination  of  the 
poets.  The  most  celebrated  criminals  were  Tityus,  Tanta- 
lus, Sisyphus,  Ixion,  and  the  Danaids.  The  punishment  of 
Tityus,  who  had  offered  violence  to  Leto,  consisted  in  be- 
ing chained  to  the  earth,  while  two  vultures  continually 
gnawed  at  his  ever-growing  liver.  Tantalus,  the  ancestor 
of  the  Atrida?,  Agamemnon  and  Menelaus,  had  been  deem- 
ed worthy  to  hold  intercourse  with  the  gods,  until  he 
thought  fit  to  put  their  omniscience  to  the  test  by  setting 
before  them  the  flesh  of  his  son  Pelops.  This  crime  he  was 
condemned  to  expiate  by  the  torments  of  continual  hun- 
ger and  thirst.  Above  his  head  were  suspended  the  most 
beautiful  fruits ;  but  when  he  attempted  to  snatch  them, 
a  gust  of  wind  blew  them  beyond  his  reach.  At  his  feet 
flowed  a  stream  of  the  purest  water;  but  when  he  tried  to 
quench  his  thirst,  it  suddenly  vanished  into  the  ground. 
Sisyphus,  formerly  King  of  Corinth,  had  provoked  the 
wrath  of  the  gods  by  his  numerous  crimes,  and  was  con- 
demned, in  consequence,  to  roll  a  block  of  stone  up  a  high 
mountain,  which,  on  reaching  the  top,  always  rolled  down 
again  to  the  plain.  Ixion,  a  not  less  insolent  offender,  was 
bound  hand  and  foot  to  an  ever-revolving  wheel.  Lastly, 
the  Danaids,  or  daughters  of  Danaus,  who,  at  their  father's 
command,  had  slain  their  husbands  on  the  wedding  night, 
were  condemned  to  pour  water  continually  into  a  cask  full 
of  holes,  which  could  never  be  filled. 


174  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

18.  The  Erinyes  (Furiae). — The  Erinyes,  or  Furies, 
were  denizens  of  the  lower  world,  who  executed  the  com- 
mands of  Hades  and  Persephone.  They  were  ultimately 
three  in  number,  and  their  names  were  Tisiphone,  Alecto, 
and  Megsera ;  and  this  number,  like  that  of  the  Graces, 
Fates,  and  others,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  Greeks  ex- 
pressed any  undefined  number  by  the  sacred  numeral 
three.  In  their  original  signification  they  appear  as  the 
avengers  of  every  violation,  either  on  the  part  of  gods  or 
men,  of  the  moral  laws  of  the  universe.  When,  at  a  later 
period,  the  idea  of  an  avenging  Nemesis  had  become  more 
and  more  developed,  the  significance  of  the  Erinyes  di- 
minished, and  their  avenging  duties  were  confined  to  the 
family. 

As  the  inexorable  pursuers  of  every  injury  done  to  the 
sacred  ties  of  blood — especially  the  murder  of  kindred — 
they  received  a  much  greater  degree  of  attention  at  the 
hands  of  the  Greek  tragic  poets,  by  whom  they  were  fre- 
quently brought  on  the  stage.  The  pictures  thus  drawn 
of  the  relentless  activity  of  the  Erinyes  are  both  power- 
ful and  striking.  Nothing  can  equal  the  keen  scent  with 
which  they  trace  the  crime,  or  the  untiring  speed  with 
which  they  pursue  the  criminal.  As  a  symbol  of  this  lat- 
ter quality,  the  poets  have  endowed  them  with  brazen  feet. 
Their  appearance  is  wan  and  Gorgon-like ;  wild  lust  for 
blood  is  written  in  their  features,  and  the  serpents  which 
twine  round  their  heads  in  the  place  of  hair  deal  out 
destruction  and  death  on  their  unhappy  victims.  Flight 
avails  them  naught,  for  there  is  no  region  whither  the 
avenging  Furies  cannot  follow,  no  distance  that  they  can- 
not compass.  With  torch  swung  on  high,  they  dog  the 
steps  of  the  unhappy  wretch,  like  swift  huntresses  follow- 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER  WORLD.   175 

ing  in  the  track  of  their  hard-pressed  game,  and  never  rest 
until  they  have  driven  him  to  madness  and  death. 

Such  is  a  portrait  of  the  Erinyes  according  to  the  ear- 
lier and  more  dreadful  conception ;  but,  as  in  the  case  of 
Hades  and  Persephone,  there  is  another  side  to  their  char- 
acter. Subsequently,  they  appear  in  a  milder  and  more 
kindly  guise  than  that  which  we  have  just  portrayed.  As 
long  as  men  stood  under  the  dominion  of  the  law  of  retali- 
ation— the  dreadful  "  eye  for  eye  and  tooth  for  tooth  " — 
they  were  able  to  derive  pleasure  from  the  idea  of  the  in- 
exorable and  implacable  nature  of  the  Erinyes.  But  when 
these  barbarous  customs  died  out  before  advancing  civili- 
zation, and  civil  society  began  to  surround  itself  with  regu- 
lar laws  which  protected  individual  life  from  arbitrary  as- 
saults, then  the  conception  of  the  Erinyes  as  compassion- 
ate and  even  benevolent  deities  gained  ground.  Poetical 
mythology  has  associated  this  transformation  with  a  spe- 
cial event,  namely,  the  institution  of  the  Areopagus  at 
Athens,  and  the  purification  of  the  matricide  Orestes  ef- 
fected by  this  venerable  court.  The  story  relates  that 
Orestes,  after  having  slain  his  mother  Clytsemnestra  and 
her  infamous  paramour  .^Egisthus,  in  revenge  for  the  mur- 
der of  his  father  Agamemnon,  wandered  for  a  long  time 
about  the  earth  in  a  state  bordering  on  madness,  owing  to 
the  persecution  of  the  Erinyes.  At  length,  however,  he 
was  befriended  by  Apollo  and  Athene,  the  kindly  deities 
of  the  luminous  ./Ether.  Apollo  first  purified  him  before 
his  own  altar  at  Delphi,  and  then  defended  him  before 
the  court  of  the  Areopagus,  which  had  been  founded  by 
Athene.  Orestes  was  here  acquitted,  for  Athene,  when  the 
votes  for  and  against  him  were  equal,  declared  that  then 
and  in  all  future  time  the  criminal  should  have  the  benefit 


176         GEEEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

of  the  doubt.  The  Furies,  indeed,  were  at  first  very  wroth, 
and  threatened  the  land  with  barrenness  both  of  women 
and  soil;  but  Athene  succeeded  in  pacifying  them  by 
promising  that  a  shrine  should  be  erected  to  them  on  the 
hill  of  the  Areopagus.  After  they  had  taken  possession 
of  this  sanctuary,  they  were  thenceforth  venerated  by  the 
Athenians,  under  the  names  of  Semnse  (venerable),  or  Eu- 
menides  (benevolent),  as  propitious  deities  who,  though 
they  still  continued  to  punish  crimes,  were  ever  ready  to 
grant  mercy  to  the  repentant  sinner,  and  to  give  succor  to 
all  good  men. 

There  were  different  traditions  concerning  the  origin  of 
the  Erinyes.  According  to  Hesiod,  they  owed  their  exist- 
ence to  the  first  execrable  crime  committed  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  world,  for  they  were  the  daughters  of  Earth, 
and  sprung  from  the  drops  of  blood  that  fell  from  the  man- 
gled body  of  Uranus.  They  here  appear,  therefore,  as  an 
embodiment  of  the  curses  which  the  angry  father  invoked 
on  the  head  of  his  unnatural  son.  Sophocles,  on  the  other 
hand,  calls  them  the  daughters  of  Gaea  and  Scotos  (dark- 
ness of  night).  JEschylus  simply  terms  them  the  daugh- 
ters of  the  Night.  Besides  the  shrine  in  Athens  already 
mentioned,  they  had  another  near  the  city,  a  sacred  grove 
in  Colonus,  which  was  celebrated  as  the  last  refuge  of  the 
unfortunate  (Edipns.  In  Athens  they  had  an  annual  festi- 
val, at  which  libations  of  milk  and  honey  were  made  to  them. 

In  art  the  Erinyes  are  represented  as  swift  huntresses,  armed  with 
spear,  bow,  and  quiver.  Torches,  scourges,  or  snakes  were  also  put 
in  their  hands.  They  were,  moreover,  provided  with  wings  on  their 
shoulders  or  head  as  a  token  of  their  swiftness. 

19.  Hecate. — Among  the  mystic  deities  of  the  lower 
world  we  must  not  omit  to  mention  Hecate.  By  the  Ro- 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER  WORLD.   177 

mans,  indeed,  she  was  never  publicly  venerated,  though  she 
was  not  exactly  unknown  to  them.  Common  tradition 
made  her  a  daughter  of  the  Titan  Perseus  and  Asteria. 
She  ruled  principally  over  the  secret  forces  of  nature, 
which  perhaps  explains  the  spectral  and  awe-inspiring  form 
which  this  goddess  assumed.  She  was  supposed  to  pre- 


Fig.  47. — Three-formed  Hecate.    Capitoline  Museum. 

side  over  all  nocturnal  horrors,  and  not  only  to  haunt  th« 
tombs  and  cross-roads  herself  in  company  with  the  spirits 
of  the  dead,  but  also  to  send  nightly  phantoms  from  the 
lower  world,  such  as  the  man-eating  spectre  Empusa,  and 
other  fabulous  goblins. 

As  her  name  seems  to  signify,  Hecate  (far-striking)  was 
12 


178          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

originally  a  moon-goddess,  not  like  either  Artemis  or  Se- 
lene, but  representing  the  new  moon  in  its  invisible  phase. 
The  ancients,  not  being  able  to  account  for  the  different 
phases  of  the  moon,  naturally  came  to  the  conclusion  that, 
when  invisible,  it  was  tarrying  in  the  lower  world.  The 
public  worship  of  the  goddess  was  not  very  extensive,  but 
her  importance  in  connection  with  the  mysteries  was  all 
the  greater.  Men  were  wont  to  affix  small  pictures  of  her 
to  houses  and  city  gates,  which  were  supposed  to  prevent 
any  bad  spells  from  affecting  the  town  or  house.  On  the 
last  day  of  every  month  her  image  on  the  house  doors  was 
crowned  with  garlands,  and  viands  were  set  before  it  in 
her  honor,  which  were  afterward  eaten  by  the  poor,  and 
termed  the  meals  of  Hecate.  Wooden  images  of  the  god- 
dess with  three  faces  were  generally  set  up  where  three 
roads  met,  and  here  dogs  were  sacrificed  to  her  as  sin-offer- 
ings for  the  dead.  This  usually  took  place  on  the  thirtieth 
day  after  death.  As  in  the  case  of  other  infernal  deities, 
black  lambs  were  sacrificed  to  her,  besides  libations  of  milk 
and  honey. 

Hecate  was  generally  represented  as  three  -  formed  (triformvs), 
which  probably  has  some  connection  with  the  appearance  of  the 
full,  half,  and  new  moon.  In  order  to  explain  more  clearly  the  nat- 
ure of  such  a  representation,  we  give  an  engraving  (Fig.  47)  after  a 
bronze  statuette  in  the  Capitoline  Museum  at  Rome.  The  figure  facing 
us  holds  in  her  hands  a  key  and  a  rope,  which  point  her  out  as  the 
portress  of  the  lower  world;  over  her  brow  is  a  disk,  representing, 
probably,  the  dark  surface  of  the  new  moon.  The  figure  on  the  right 
holds  in  either  hand  a  torch,  in  virtue  of  her  character  as  a  mystic 
goddess,  while  on  her  brow  is  a  half-moon  and  a  lotos-flower.  Last- 
ly, the  third  figure  bears,  as  a  symbol  of  the  full  moon,  a  Phrygian 
cap  with  a  radiant  diadem  fastened  on  it,  which  gives  forth  seven 
rays ;  in  her  right  hand  is  a  knife,  in  her  left  the  tail  of  a  ser- 
pent, of  which  no  satisfactory  interpretation  has  hitherto  been  dis- 
covered. 


THE  GODS  OF  THE  EARTH  AND  LOWER  WORLD.   179 

20.  Sleep  and  Death.— Sleep  and  Death  were  con- 
ceived  by  the  ancients  as  twin  brothers.  According  to 
Hesiod,  they  were  children  of  Night  alone.  They  dwelt 
in  the  lower  world,  whence  they  visited  the  earth  to  steal 
over  mortals ;  the  former  a  kindly,  benevolent  spirit,  the 
latter  grim  and  cruel.  Apart  from  this  conception,  which 
was  especially  developed  by  later  poets  and  artists,  Death 
was  sometimes  depicted  as  quite  distinct  from  Sleep,  and 
in  a  still  less  amiable  guise.  The  different  forms  of  vio- 
lent death  were  personified  as  female  deities  of  formidable 
aspect,  called  the  Ceres ;  or  Apollo  and  Artemis  among  the 
inhabitants  of  heaven,  and  Pluto  and  Persephone  among 
those  of  the  lower  world,  were  represented  as  the  deities  of 
death.  The  Romans  had  a  personal  god  of  death,  whom 
they  called  Orcus ;  he  was  represented  as  an  armed  war- 
rior dealing  out  mortal  wounds  among  mankind.  But  none 
of  these  special  gods  of  death  had  any  great  importance, 
either  in  religion  or  art.  Artists,  indeed,  labored  sedu- 
lously to  diminish  the  dreadful  appearance  of  Thanatus 
(death),  and  to  render  him  more  and  more  like  his  brother 
Hypnus  (sleep). 

Thanatus  and  Hypnus  often  appear  in  company,  either  sleeping 
or  standing ;  the  former  usually  bears  a  reversed  torch,  the  latter 
a  poppy -stalk  or  a  horn,  out  of  which  he  is  pouring  some  liquid. 
They  are  both  generally  represented  in  the  bloom  of  youth.  In  Fig. 
34,  which  is  after  a  drawing  of  Asmus  Carstens,  they  appear  as  the 
children  of  Night,  and  are  here  brought  into  immediate  connection 
with  the  other  powers,  Nemesis  and  the  Parcaj,  who  control  the  des- 
tinies of  man. 

Besides  Sleep  and  Death,  Hesiod  also  mentions  Dreams 
as  the  children  of  Night.  Other  writers,  however,  call 
them  the  sons  of  Sleep,  who  dwell  in  the  far  West,  close 
to  the  realms  of  Hades.  This  house  of  dreams  has,  in 


180  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

Homer's  well-known  description,  two  gates — one  of  ivory, 
through  which  pass  flattering,  deceptive  dreams,  and  one 
of  horn,  whence  the  true  dreams  proceed.  Morpheus  was 
made  the  special  god  of  dreams  by  the  poets,  and  termed 
the  son  of  Hypnus. 


IV.— ROMAN  DEITIES  OF  THE  HOUSE  AND 
FAMILY. 

Before  passing  to  the  heroic  legends,  some  remarks  are 
necessary  concerning  the  inferior  deities,  who  played  such 
an  important  part  in  the  domestic  worship  of  the  Romans. 
We  have  already  incidentally  remarked  that  the  people  of 
Italy  generally  passed  by  the  greater  gods  of  the  heaven 
and  earth  in  anxious  awe.  Their  invocation  and  adoration 
were  left  to  public  worship,  while,  in  their  less  important 
domestic  concerns,  men  had  recourse  to  certain  inferior 
deities,  whom  they  thought  nearer  to  them ;  just  as  in  the 
present  day,  in  Italy,  the  common  people  prefer  to  commu- 
nicate their  prayers  and  wishes  to  their  patron  saints  rather 
than  to  the  Almighty  himself. 

1.  The  Penates.— The  Penates  were  the  kindly  do- 
mestic deities  of  the  Romans — the  guardians  of  the  house- 
hold, who  especially  provided  for  its  daily  wants.  Of  their 
name,  number,  and  sex  nothing  is  known — not  because  the 
facts  have  been  lost  to  us,  but  because  the  Romans  them- 
selves were  content  with  this  indefinite  conception.  Sim- 
ilar good  spirits,  exerting  an  active  influence  in  the  house- 
hold, were  recognized  by  popular  German  superstition, 


ROMAN    DEITIES    OF    THE    HOUSE    AND    FAMILY.        181 

without  experiencing  any  necessity  of  having  distinct 
names  for  them.  The  shrine  of  the  Penates  consisted  of 
the  hearth,  the  central  point  of  the  house,  which  not  only 
served  for  the  preparation  of  meals,  but  was  also  especially 
dedicated  to  religious  purposes.  It  stood  in  the  "  atrium," 
the  only  large  room  in  the  Roman  house,  where  the  family 
met  for  meals  and  received  visitors.  On  the  hearth,  a  fire 
was  continually  kept  burning  in  honor  of  Vesta  and  the 
Penates.  Around  it,  after  the  introduction  of  images  of 
the  gods,  were  placed  the  statues  of  the  Penates.  These 
w&re  generally  small  and  puppet-like,  and,  among  the  poor- 
er classes,  were  only  roughly  cut  out  of  wood.  There  was 
no  domestic  occurrence,  either  of  joy  or  mourning,  in  which 
the  Penates  did  not  take  part.  Like  the  Lares,  of  whom 
we  shall  speak  presently,  they  participated  in  the  daily 
meal,  portions  being  set  on  certain  plates  for  that  purpose 
before  the  images.  There  were  also  State  Penates,  the  an- 
cients regarding  the  State  as  nothing  but  an  extended  fam- 
ily. The  temple  of  Vesta  was  to  the  State  what  the  hearth 
was  to  the  household.  Here  was  the  seat  of  their  worship, 
and  here  it  was  that  the  Roman  Pontifex  Maximus  brought 
those  offerings  which,  in  private  households,  were  the  part 
of  the  head  of  the  family.  In  the  innermost  sanctuary  of 
the  temple  of  Vesta  there  were  statues  of  these  Penates,  of 
great  sanctity,  since  ^Eneas  was  reported  to  have  brought 
them  with  him  from  Troy.  We  have  no  trustworthy  in- 
formation as  to  their  number  or  appearance,  for,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Pontifex  and  the  Vestal  Virgins,  none 
ever  entered  the  holy  place.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add 
that  they  were  believed  to  exercise  an  especial  influence  on 
the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  State  and  people  of 
Rome. 


182          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

2.  The  Lares. — The  Lares,  like  the  Penates,  were  the 
tutelary  deities  of  the  house  and  family,  and  on  that  ac- 
count often  confounded  with  them.  They  were  common- 
ly supposed  to  be  the  glorified  spirits  of  ancestors,  who,  as 
guardian  deities,  strove  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  fan> 
ily.  The  seat  of  their  worship  was  also  the  family  hearth 
in  the  atrium,  where  their  images  of  wood  or  wax  were 
generally  preserved  in  a  separate  shrine  of  their  own  (Lara- 
rium).  The  Lares  received  an  especial  degree  of  veneration 
on  the  first  day  of  every  month ;  but,  like  the  Penates, 
they  took  part  in  all  the  domestic  occurrences,  whether 
of  joy  or  sorrow.  Like  the  Penates,  they  also  received 
their  share  at  every  meal  on  particular  dishes,  and  were 
crowned  with  garlands  on  the  occasion  of  every  family  re- 
joicing. When  a  son  assumed  the  toga  virilis  (came  of 
age),  he  dedicated  his  bulla*  to  the  Lares,  amidst  prayers 
and  libations  and  burning  of  incense.  When  the  father 
of  the  house  started  on  a  journey  or  returned  in  safety, 
the  Lares  were  again  addressed,  and  their  statues  crowned 
with  wreaths,  flowers  and  garlands  being  their  favorite 
offerings. 

The  same  conception  which  pervades  the  domestic  Lares 
may  be  perceived  in  a  more  extensive  form  in  the  Lares  of 
the  Gens,  the  city,  and  the  State  itself.  The  Lares  do  not 
appear,  in  fact,  to  have  differed  in  many  respects  from  the 
heroes  worshipped  by  the  Greeks.  At  all  events,  Romulus 
and  Remus,  the  mythical  founders  of  the  city,  were  regard- 
ed as  its  Lares,  and  in  the  time  of  Augustus  the  genius  of 
the  emperor  was  associated  with  them. 


*  A  gold  or  silver  ornament,  like  a  medal,  which  was  worn  round 
the  neck  during  childhood. 


ROMAN    DEITIES    OF    THE    HOUSE    AND    FAMILY.        183 

3.  Larvae,  Lemures,  and  Manes. — Just  as  the 
Lares  were  regarded  as  the  good  and  happy  spirits  of  ances- 
tors, the  souls  of  others  were  supposed  to  wander  about  in 
the  guise  of  evil  demons  and  spectres,  giving  rise  to  weird 
terrors,  and  casting  bad  spells  on  the  senses  of  those  whom 
they  met.  Such  was  especially  believed  to  be  the  fate  of 
those  who  had  not  received  burial,  or  in  whose  case  the 
prescribed  ceremonies  had  been  neglected,  and  who  being, 
in  consequence,  unable  to  find  rest,  were  doomed  to  flit 
about  the  earth.  Such  spirits  were  called  Larvae,  or  Lem- 
ures. The  propitiatory  festival  of  the  Lemuria,  or  Lem- 
uralia,  which  was  said  to  have  been  instituted  in  memory 
of  the  murdered  Remus,  was  celebrated  annually  in  their 
honor  on  the  9th,  llth,  and  13th  of  May.  Every  paterfa- 
milias was  supposed  during  these  days  to  perform  certain 
midnight  ceremonies,  and  to  repeat  certain  forms,  which 
had  the  effect  of  banishing  any  evil  spirits. 

In  contrast  to  the  Lares  and  Larva3,  the  souls  of  the 
dead  were  also  commonly  venerated  as  Manes,  or  good 
spirits.  These  were  believed  after  burial  to  have  been 
converted  into  beings  of  a  higher  order,  who  dwelt,  in- 
deed, in  the  interior  of  the  earth,  but  exercised,  notwith- 
standing, a  considerable  influence  on  the  affairs  of  the  up- 
per world.  It  was  possible  to  summon  them  from  the 
lower  world  by  means  of  sacrifices.  A  general  festival  of 
the  dead  took  place  in  February,  when  the  Manes  were 
propitiated  with  offerings  and  libations.  These  offerings 
were  placed  on  the  tombs  of  the  deceased,  and,  of  course, 
varied  extremely,  according  to  the  means  of  the  donors. 


184          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 


PAKT  III.^-THE  HEKOES. 


L— INTRODUCTORY. 

ON  passing  to  heroic  mythology,  a  world  still  more 
rich  in  marvels  than  that  with  which  we  have  already 
become  acquainted  presents  itself  to  our  view.  The  great- 
er extent  of  this  department  of  mythic  lore  is  easily  com- 
prehensible, if  we  take  into  consideration  the  multitude  of 
separate  existences  into  which  Greek  life  was  split  up,  even 
from  the  earliest  times.  Each  of  the  numberless  countries, 
islands,  cities,  and  towns  endeavored  to  trace  back  its  pe- 
culiar institutions  to  mythical  founders  and  ancestors ;  and 
as  these  were  always  described  either  as  the  sons  or  as  the 
favorites  of  the  gods,  there  accordingly  sprung  up,  in  course 
of  time,  a  vast  number  of  local  heroic  legends.  These  fab- 
ulous founders  of  states,  however,  were  not  the  only  heroes 
of  Greek  mythology.  The  attempt  to  pierce  the  clouds  of 
obscurity  which  enveloped  the  early  history  of  mankind, 
and  the  desire  of  a  more  enlightened  age  to  bridge  over 
the  intervening  gulf,  and  fill  it  with  beings  who  should 
form  a  connecting  link  between  the  sublime  forms  of  the 
great  inhabitants  of  Olympus  and  the  puny  race  of  mor- 
tals, naturally  gave  rise  to  a  whole  series  of  heroic  legends. 
These  were  partly  the  property  of  entire  nationalities,  or 
even  of  the  whole  Hellenic  race,  and  partly  of  a  local  or 
provincial  character.  Moreover,  as  the  gods  collectively 


THE    HEROES.  185 

were  divided  into  gods  proper  and  demons  —  that  is  to 
say,  spirits  resembling  the  gods,  but  inferior  to  them  in 
wisdom  and  power,  whose  workings  men  saw  in  air  and 
earth  and  sea — even  so  the  race  of  mortals  was  divided 
into  heroes  and  men,  between  whom  a  similar  difference 
subsisted.  The  latter  are,  in  their  nature,  not  different 
from  the  former — both  are  alike  mortal,  and  must  at  length 
fall  a  prey  to  inexorable  death.  But  the  heroes  are  en- 
dowed with  a  degree  of  physical  strength  and  dexterity, 
courage  and  endurance  under  difficulties,  such  as  never  fall 
to  the  lot  of  ordinary  men.  It  was  not,  however,  by  any 
means  all  who  lived  in  this  early  mythical  period  who  were 
accounted  heroes ;  but  just  as  in  Genesis  vi.,  2,  a  distinc- 
tion is  made  between  the  "  sons  of  God  "  and  the  "  daugh- 
ters of  men,"  so  in  the  present  instance  the  heroes  were 
the  mighty  ones  —  the  ruling  spirits  of  the  age  —  those 
whose  marvellous  exploits  contributed  to  remove  the  ob- 
stacles to  civilization  and  culture,  who  delivered  countries 
from  cruel  robbers  and  savage  beasts,  who  drained  marshes, 
made  roads  through  untrodden  forests,  and  regulated  the 
course  of  rivers.  By  their  actions  they  proved  themselves 
men  of  no  ordinary  powers,  endowed  with  divine  strength, 
and,  therefore,  apparently  of  divine  origin.  It  appeared, 
at  least,  that  such  beings  must  have  had  an  origin  different 
from  that  of  ordinary  men,  who  were  made  out  of  clay,  or 
sprang  from  trees  or  stones.  Some  of  these  heroes  may 
perhaps  have  had  a  real  existence,  having  probably  been 
the  ancestors  of  the  later  dominant  races,  to  whom  a  dim 
tradition  reached.  Others  were  undoubtedly  a  product 
of  the  imagination.  To  these  may  be  added  a  third  class, 
and  this  is  by  far  the  most  numerous,  including  those  who 
were  originally  personifications  of  various  natural  phenom- 


186         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

ena,  and  as  such  deified  and  venerated  in  local  forms  of 
worship,  but  who  were  later,  in  consequence  of  the  birth 
of  new  political  communities,  expelled  from  their  place  in 
public  worship,  and  only  continued  to  exist  in  the  popular 
faith  in  the  inferior  character  of  heroes.  Many  such  he- 
roes were  afterward  again  promoted  to  the  rank  of  gods, 
though  with  an  altered  meaning  (e.  g.,  Heracles). 

Any  real  veneration  of  heroes  by  prayers  and  sacrifices 
can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  existed  before  the  migration 
of  the  Heraclidae — at  least  there  is  no  mention  of  it  in  Ho- 
mer. Even  later,  except  in  the  case  of  those  heroes  who 
were  raised  to  the  rank  of  gods  for  their  great  deeds,  and 
who  were,  therefore,  worshipped  in  temples  of  their  own, 
the  worship  of  heroes  is  scarcely  to  be  distinguished  from 
that  of  the  dead.  Homer  makes  no  distinction  between 
the  fate  of  heroes  after  death  and  that  of  ordinary  mor- 
tals, all  being  doomed  alike  to  the  gloomy  realms  of  Hades. 
As  we  have  already  observed,  it  was  only  certain  special 
favorites,  or  sons  of  Zeus,  who  were  excepted  from  this 
gloomy  lot,  and  were  transported  in  their  bodily  shape  to 
the  Isles  of  the  Blest.  Hesiod,  on  the  other  hand,  says 
that  all  heroes — whom  he,  in  the  first  instance,  terms  demi- 
gods—  were  transported  to  the  Isles  of  the  Blest,  where 
Cronus  ruled  over  them.  Here,  for  the  first  time,  the  idea 
of  a  just  retribution  in  the  other  world  takes  a  definite 
shape ;  for  Hesiod  obviously  conceives  a  residence  in  Ely- 
sium to  be  the  reward  of  meritorious  actions  performed  in 
the  upper  world.  This  idea  was  subsequently  more  fully 
developed,  especially  in  the  mysteries,  and  men  were  grad- 
ually elevated  to  a  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 
The  spirits  of  the  dead  were  believed,  even  after  they  were 
in  their  graves,  to  exert  continually  a  mysterious  influence ; 


CREATION    AND    PRIMITIVE    CONDITION    OF    MANKIND.    187 

on  which  account  men  strove  to  gain  their  favor  by  means 
of  offerings,  thereby  removing  every  real  distinction  be- 
tween the  worship  of  heroes  and  that  of  the  dead. 

Amidst  the  multitude  of  legends  of  this  kind,  we  shall 
only  dwell  upon  those  which  occupy  a  prominent  position 
either  in  poetry  or  in  art.  We  shall  begin  with  those  which 
relate  to  the  creation  and  early  civilization  of  mankind,  af- 
ter which  we  shall  pass  to  the  most  celebrated  provincial, 
legends,  and  conclude  with  those  that  refer  to  the  more 
important  of  the  common  undertakings  of  the  later  heroic 
age. 


II— THE  CREATION  AND  PRIMITIVE  CONDITION 
OF  MANKIND. 

The  legends  concerning  the  origin  of  the  human  race  dif- 
fer very  widely.  The  most  ancient  are  undoubtedly  those 
which  describe  men  as  springing  from  the  trees  or  rocks. 
Another  tradition  asserts  that  the  human  race  was  of  later 
growth,  having  been  first  called  into  existence  by  Zeus  and 
the  gods  of  Olympus.  A  third  account  makes  the  Titan 
Prometheus,  the  son  of  lapetus,  the  creator  of  mankind, 
but  leaves  it  uncertain  whether  this  took  place  before  or  af- 
ter the  flood  of  Deucalion.  Prometheus,  according  to  this 
account,  made  men  of  clay  and  water,  after  which  Athene 
breathed  a  soul  into  them. 

There  were  likewise  various  accounts  concerning  the 
primeval  condition  of  mankind.  According  to  one,  the 
human  race  raised  itself,  with  the  assistance  of  the  gods, 
from  a  state  of  helpless  barbarism :  this  progress  was  the 
subject  of  numerous  legends.  Another  account  represents 


188  GHEEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

men  as  living  originally  in  a  holy  and  happy  communion 
with  the  gods  (the  Golden  Age),  and  asserts  that  they  first 
became  savage  after  having  lost  this  good  fortune  by  their 
presumption. 

Of  the  myths  that  relate  to  the  introduction  of  the  first 
elements  of  civilization  among  mankind  by  divine  aid, 
there  is  none,  except  those  already  mentioned  concerning 
Dionysus  and  Demeter,  more  celebrated  than  the  story  of 
Prometheus.  The  Titan  lapetus  had  by  Clymene,  the 
daughter  of  Oceanus,  four  sons — the  stout-hearted  Atlas, 
the  presumptuous  Menoetius,  the  crafty  Prometheus,  and 
the  foolish  Epimetheus.  With  the  name  of  Prometheus 
is  linked  the  idea  of  the  first  commencement  of  civilization 
among  mankind  by  the  introduction  of  fire.  Prometheus 
is  said  to  have  stolen  fire  from  heaven,  and  to  have  taught 
its  use  to  man.  By  being  employed  for  all  the  common 
purposes  of  daily  life,  however,  this  pure  celestial  element 
became  polluted;  whereupon  Zeus  visited  the  author  of 
this  sacrilege  with  a  fearful  punishment.  He  ordered  Pro- 
metheus to  be  chained  to  a  rock,  where,  during  the  day- 
time, an  eagle  devoured  his  liver  (the  seat  of  all  evil  de- 
sires), which  always  grew  again  during  the  night. 

The  idea  that,  together  with  the  introduction  of  civiliza- 
tion, many  evils  which  were  before  unknown  to  man  came 
into  existence,  is  expressed  in  the  myth  of  Pandora.  Zeus 
determined  to  leave  mankind  in  possession  of  Prometheus's 
gift;  but  he  ordered  Hepha3stus  to  make  an  image  of  a 
beautiful  woman,  which  the  gods  then  endowed  with  life 
and  adorned  with  all  kinds  of  gifts,  whence  she  was  called 
Pandora.  Aphrodite  bestowed  on  her  the  seductive  charms 
that  kindle  love;  Athene  instructed  her  in  every  art;  Her- 
mes endued  her  with  a  smooth  tongue  and  a  crafty  dispo- 


CREATION    AND    PRIMITIVE    CONDITION    OF   MANKIND.    189 

sition,  while  the  Seasons  and  Graces  adorned  her  with  flow- 
ers and  fine  dresses.  Zeus  then  sent  her,  under  the  guid- 
ance of  Hermes,  to  the  foolish  Epimetheus,  who,  in  spite  of 
the  warning  of  his  brother  not  to  accept  any  present  from 
Zeus,  received  Pandora,  and  made  her  his  wife.  There 
was  in  the  house  of  Epimetheus  a  closed  jar,  which  he  had 
been  forbidden  to  open,  and  which  contained  all  kinds  of 
diseases  and  ills.  Pandora  removed  the  cover,  and  these 
escaped,  and  men,  who  had  before  been  free  from  disease 
and  care,  have  ever  since  been  tormented.  Pandora  closed 
the  jar  in  time  to  keep  in  Hope.  Thus  both  Greek  legend 
and  Biblical  tradition  alike  represent  woman  as  the  first 
cause  of  evil  and  death. 

The  legend  of  the  five  ages  of  mankind  transports  us  to 
quite  another  region  of  tradition.  According  to  this,  the 
gods  first  created  a  golden  race  of  men,  who  lived  free 
from  care  and  sorrow,  while  the  earth,  of  its  own  accord, 
furnished  them  with  all  that  was  necessary  to  support  life. 
Subject  neither  to  the  infirmities  of  age  nor  to  the  pangs 
of  sickness  and  disease,  men  at  last  sunk  peacefully,  as 
into  a  sweet  sleep,  to  death.  In  what  manner  the  Golden 
Age  disappeared  is  not  related ;  we  are  only  told  that  this 
race,  notwithstanding  its  disappearance,  still  continues  to 
exist  in  the  upper  world,  in  the  shape  of  good  spirits,  who 
guard  and  protect  mortals.  After  this,  the  gods  created 
a  second  (silver)  race  of  men,  who  were,  however,  far  in- 
ferior to  their  predecessors,  both  in  mind  and  body. 
They  passed  their  time  in  idle  and  effeminate  pursuits, 
and  refused  to  pay  the  gods  due  honors.  Zeus,  in  his 
wrath,  thereupon  blotted  them  out  from  the  face  of  the 
earth,  and  created  the  third  (brazen)  race  of  mankind  out 
of  ash  wood.  This  race  proved  headstrong  and  violent. 


190         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

They  were  of  giant  stature  and  great  strength,  and  took 
pleasure  in  nothing  but  battle  and  strife.  Their  weapons, 
houses,  and  utensils  -were  of  bronze,  iron  not  yet  being 
known.  Zeus  was  not  compelled  to  destroy  this  evil  race, 
since  they  destroyed  themselves  in  their  blood-thirsty  strife. 
According  to  another  account,  they  were  destroyed  by  the 
flood  of  Deucalion. 

Deucalion  appears  to  have  been  a  son  of  Prometheus, 
while  his  wife  Pyrrha  was  the  daughter  of  Epimetheus 
and  Pandora,  Zeus,  having  determined  to  destroy  the 
corrupt  race  of  the  third,  or  Bronze  Age,  by  a  flood,  Pro- 
metheus warned  his  son,  who  built  himself  an  ark,  into 
which  he  retired  with  his  wife  when  the  waters  began  to 
rise.  Nine  days  and  nights  he  was  tossed  on  the  waters ; 
at  length  his  vessel  rested  on  Mount  Parnassus,  in  Boeotia. 
He  disembarked,  and  immediately  offered  a  sacrifice  of 
thanksgiving  to  Zeus  the  preserver.  Pleased  at  his  grati- 
tude, Zeus  granted  his  prayer  for  the  restoration  of  the  hu- 
man race ;  and  Deucalion  and  Pyrrha  were  commanded  by 
Hermes  to  cast  stones  behind  them,  from  which  sprung  a 
new  race  of  men.  Such  is  the  legend  in  its  most  ancient 
form ;  later  writers  engrafted  on  it  still  further  incidents 
of  Biblical  tradition,  until  at  last  the  Greek  Noah  was  rep- 
resented as  having  taken  living  animals  with  him  into  the 
ark,  and  as  having  let  loose  a  dove  after  his  landing  on 
Parnassus. 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  191 


III.— PROVINCIAL  HEROIC  LEGENDS. 

1 .  The  Lapithse  and  the  Centaurs.  —  We  shall 
commence  with  the  Thessalian  legend  of  the  Lapithse  and 
Centaurs,  on  account  of  its  great  antiquity  and  its  impor- 
tance in  sculpture.  Our  most  ancient  authority  here  is 
Homer.  The  hoary  Nestor  on  one  occasion  boasts  of 
having,  in  his  younger  days,  taken  part  with  his  friends 
Pirithoiis  and  Cseneus,  and  the  other  princes  of  the  La- 
pithtc,  in  their  contest  with  the  savage  Centaurs.  In  Ho- 
mer's account  the  Centaurs  are  obviously  no  demons,  but 
an  old  Thessalian  mountain  tribe  of  giant  strength  and  sav- 
age ferocity,  utterly  unable  to  control  their  rude,  sensual 
nature.  Neither  is  there,  as  yet,  any  mention  of  their  be- 
ing half  horses  and  half  men  :  they  are  merely  said  to  have 
inhabited  the  mountain  districts  of  (Eta  and  Pelion,  in 
Thessaly,  and  to  have  been  driven  thence  by  the  Lapithse 
into  the  higher  mountain  lands  of  Pindus. 

Their  contest  with  the  Lapithse  is  generally  conceived  as 
a  symbol  of  the  struggle  of  Greek  civilization  with  the 
still  existing  barbarism  of  the  early  Pelasgian  period.  This 
may  be  the  reason  why  Greek  art,  when  in  its  bloom,  de- 
voted itself  so  especially  to  this  subject.  The  origin  of 
this  contest  is  referred  to  the  marriage  feast  of  Pirithoiis 
and  Hippodamia,  to  which  the  principal  Centaurs  had  been 
invited.  On  this  occasion  the  Centaur  Eurytion,  heated 
with  wine,  attempted  to  carry  off  the  bride  ;  this  gave  rise 
to  a  contest  which,  after  dreadful  losses  on  both  sides,  end- 
ed in  the  complete  defeat  of  the  Centaurs.  The  Centaurs, 
however,  since  they  were  thus  able  to  sit  with  the  Lapitha3 


192          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

at  meat,  must  originally  have  been  endowed  with  purely 
human  forms. 

Theseus  and  Nestor,  the  friends  of  Pirithoiis,  both  took 
part  in  the  battle.  Another  prominent  warrior  was  the 
gigantic  Cseneus  (Slayer),  who  had  been  rendered  invulner- 
able by  Poseidon,  but  whom  the  Centaurs  slew  on  this  oc- 
casion by  burying  him  beneath  a  mass  of  trees  and  rocks. 

As  we  have  already  mentioned,  the  Centaurs  play  an  important 
part  in  art.  The  custom  of  depicting  them  as  half  horse  and  half 
man  came  into  vogue  after  the  time  of  Pindar,  and  was  quickly 
adopted  in  sculpture.  In  the  representations  of  earlier  art  the  face 
of  a  man  is  joined  to  the  body  and  hind  legs  of  a  horse.  But  in  its 
higher  stage  of  development,  after  the  time  of  Phidias,  this  was  re- 
placed by  a  more  elegant  conception,  and  the  body  of  a  man  from 
the  navel  upward  was  joined  to  the  complete  body  of  a  horse,  so  that 
the  Centaurs  of  this  period  have  the  four  feet  of  a  horse  and  the 
hands  and  arms  of  a  man.  Such  is  their  appearance  on  numerous 
extant  art  monuments,  of  which  we  shall  mention  the  most  important. 

In  the  first  place,  there  are  the  reliefs  from  the  frieze  of  the 
Theseum  at  Athens.  This  temple,  which  is  still  in  a  good  state  of 
preservation,  was  converted  during  the  Middle  Ages  into  a  chapel  of 
St.  George.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  built  at  the  instance  of 
Cimon,  after  he  had  brought  back  the  bones  of  the  Attic  hero  from 
Scyros.  Besides  other  important  pieces,  which  we  shall  mention 
hereafter,  the  temple  has,  on  its  western  or  hinder  frieze,  a  represen- 
tation of  the  contests  of  the  Centaurs  and  Lapithae  at  the  wedding 
of  Pirithoiis,  done  in  Parian  marble.  It  is  executed  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  it  is  impossible  to  discover  which  party  will  get  the  upper 
hand ;  and  this  has  enabled  the  artist,  whose  name  has  not  come 
down  to  us,  to  introduce  a  lively  variety  into  the  different  scenes  of 
the  combat. 

We  have  another  series  of  most  splendid  representations  from  Jhe 
battle  of  the  Centaurs,  full  of  life  and  spirit,  on  some  dilapidated 
metopes*  of  the  Parthenon  at  Athens.  This  splendid  specimen  of 

*  The  squares  between  the  triglyphs  of  the  frieze  which  are  in- 
tended to  support  the  gable,  every  one  of  which  is  generally  adorned 
with  a  separate  sculpture  in  relief. 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  193 

Doric  architecture  is  227  feet  in  length,  and  101  feet  in  breadth.  It 
was  ruined  in  1687,  during  the  war  between  the  Venetians  and 
Turks,  by  a  shell  which  broke  through  the  midst  of  the  marble  roof. 
A  large  part  of  the  ninety-two  metopes  of  the  outer  frieze  contain  a 
number  of  the  most  beautiful  and  life-like  scenes  from  the  battle  of 
the  Giants  and  that  of  the  Centaurs.  Of  these  metopes,  thirty-nine 
still  remain  ou  the  temple,  though  they  are  all  in  a  terribly  mutilated 
condition ;  seventeen  are  in  the  British  Museum,  and  one  in  the 
Louvre  at  Paris.  Those  from  the  south  side  are  comparatively  in 
the  best  state  of  preservation ;  these  are  seventeen  in  number,  the 


Fig.  43. — Metope  of  the  Parthenon. 

whole  number  on  the  south  side  having  been  thirty-two.  They  rep- 
resent, exclusively,  scenes  from  the  battle  of  the  Centaurs.  Here  a 
bearded  Centaur  is  carrying  off  a  woman,  whom  he  holds  in  his  pow- 
erful grasp ;  there,  another  is  galloping  away  over  the  body  of  his 
fallen  enemy ;  another  is  engaged  in  a  fierce  contest  with  a  human 
foe ;  while  a  fourth  lies  slain  on  the  field.  The  engraving  we  ap- 
pend may  give  a  faint  idea  of  the  beauty  and  bold  design  of  this 
splendid  creation  (Fig.  48).  To  these  grand  monuments  of  Greek  art 
we  must  add  the  frieze  of  the  temple  of  Apollo  Epicurius  at  Bassac, 
near  Phigalia,  in  Arcadia,  which  was  discovered  in  1812,  and  is  now 
in  the  British  Museum.  It  represents,  likewise,  a  series  of  the  most 
vivid  scenes  from  the  battle  of  the  LapithaB  and  Centaurs..  In  the 

13 


194 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 


individual  groups  and  scenes  of  the  battle,  which  is  here  completed 
before  our  eyes,  there  is  the  same  variety  and  animation,  so  that  we 
must  ascribe  it  to  some  great  artist  (Fig.  49). 


Fig.  49.— From  the  Frieze  of  the  Temple  at  Bassse. 

Besides  these  sculptures  in  relief,  some  splendid  single  statues  of 
Centaurs  have  come  down  to  us  from  antiquity.  Among  these,  the 
first  place  must  be  assigned  to  the  two  Centaurs  in  the  Capitoline 
Museum.  They  are  executed  in  black  marble,  and  were  found  in  the 
villa  of  Hadrian  at  Tivoli,  where  so  many  ancient  art  treasures  have 
been  brought  to  light. 

Among  the  Centaurs,  Chiron,  who  was  famous  alike  for 
his  wisdom  and  his  knowledge  of  medicine,  deserves  men- 
tion as  the  preceptor  of  many  of  the  heroes  of  antiquity. 
So  far  superior  was  he  to  his  savage  kindred,  both  in  edu- 
cation and  manners,  that  he  was  commonly  reported  to 
have  had  a  different  origin,  and  was  therefore  described  as 
a  son  of  Cronus  and  Philyra,  or  Phyllira,  one  of  the  Ocea- 
nids.  Homer,  who  knew  nothing  of  the  equine  shape  of 
the  Centaurs,  represents  him  as  the  most  upright  of  the 
Centaurs,  and  makes  him  the  friend  of  Peleus  and  the  pre- 
ceptor of  the  youthful  Achilles,  whom  he  instructed  in  the 


Fig.  50.— Centaur  teaching  a  Boy  to  play  upon  the  Pipe.    Relief  by  Kund- 
rnann. 


196          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

art  of  healing  and  gymnastic  exercises.  He  was,  moreover, 
related  to  both  these  heroes,  his  daughter  Endeis  having 
been  the  mother  of  Peleus.  Subsequently,  other  mythi- 
cal heroes  were  added  to  the  number  of  his  pupils,  such 
as  Castor  and  Polydeuces,  Theseus,  Nestor,  Meleager,  and 
Diomedes.  Music,  too,  was  now  represented  as  a  subject 
of  his  instruction,  though  this  is  perhaps  due  to  a  misin- 
terpretation of  the  name  of  his  mother.  He  inhabited  a 
cave  on  Mount  Pelion.  Later  mythology,  however,  trans- 
ferred his  residence,  after  the  Centaurs  had  been  driven 
from  Pelion  by  the  Lapithae,  to  the  promontory  of  Malea. 
Here,  by  an  unlucky  accident,  he  was  wounded  with  a 
poisoned  arrow  by  his  friend  Heracles,  and,  the  wound  be- 
ing incurable,  he  voluntarily  chose  to  die  in  the  'place  of 
Prometheus. 

The  idea  of  the  connection  of  the  Centaurs  with  the  arts  and  sci- 
ences originated  in  the  story  of  Chiron  and  Achilles,  and  has  since 
furnished  modern  art  with  the  subjects  for  some  of  its  most  valuable 
works.  Fig.  50  represents  a  Centaur  teaching  a  boy  to  play  on  the 
flute,  and  is  after  an  alto-rilievo  of  the  Viennese  sculptor  Kundmann. 

2.  Theban  Legend.  —  1.  Cadmus. — Among  Theban 
legends,  none  is  more  celebrated  than  the  founding  of 
Thebes  by  Cadmus.  Cadmus  was  a  son  of  the  Phoanician 
king  Agenor.  After  Zeus  carried  off  his  sister  Europa  to 
Crete  (vide  the  Cretan  Legends),  he  was  despatched  by  his 
father  in  search  of  her.  Accompanied  by  his  mother,  Tele- 
phassa,  he  came  to  Thrace,  and  thence  to  Delphi,  where 
he  was  commanded  by  the  oracle  to  relinquish  his  quest. 
It  further  ordered  him  to  follow  a  young  heifer  with  the 
mark  of  a  crescent  on  either  side,  and  to  build  a  town 
on  the  place  where  the  heifer  should  lie  down.  Cadmus 
obeyed,  and,  finding  the  heifer  in  Phocis,  he  followed  her. 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  197 

She  led  him  into  Boeotia,  and  at  length  lay  down  on  a  ris- 
ing ground.  On  this  spot  Cadmus  founded  a  town,  which 
he  called  Cadmea,  after  himself,  though  he  had  first  to 
experience  a  perilous  adventure.  Before  sacrificing  the 
heifer,  he  sent  some  of  his  companions  to  fetch  water  from 
a  neighboring  spring,  where  they  were  slain  by  a  dragon 
belonging  to  Ares,  which  guarded  the  spring.  Cadmus 
then  went  himself,  and  slew  the  dragon,  the  teeth  of  which 
he  sowed  in  the  ground  by  the  advice  of  Pallas.  Here- 
upon armed  men  sprung  from  the  ground :  they  immedi- 
ately turned  their  arms  against  each  other,  and  were  all 
slain  except  five.  Cadmus  built  his  new  town  with  the 
assistance  of  these  men,  who  thus  became  the  ancestors  of 
the  noble  families  of  Thebes.  In  expiation  of  the  dragon's 
death,  Cadmus  was  obliged  to  do  service  to  Ares  for  eight 
years.  At  the  end  of  this  period  Ares  pardoned  Cadmus, 
and  gave  him  Harmonia — his  daughter  by  Aphrodite — to 
wife.  Harmonia  became  the  mother  of  four  daughters — 
Autonoe,  Ino,  Semele,  and  Agave.  After  reigning  for  a 
long  time  at  Thebes,  Cadmus  was  compelled  in  his  old  age 
to  retire  to  the  Enchelians,  in  Illyria ;  but  whether  he  was 
driven  out  by  Amphion  and  Zethus  (who  appear  in  Homer 
as  the  founders  of  Thebes),  or  withdrew  from  some  other 
cause,  is  not  manifest.  He  and  his  wife  were  afterward 
changed  into  serpents,  and  transferred,  by  the  command  of 
Zeus,  to  the  Elysian  fields. 

Such  is  the  substance  of  the  wonderful  myth  which  has 
caused  so  much  perplexity  to  antiquarians.  It  is  now  com- 
monly supposed  that  Cadmus  was  originally  a  local  person- 
ification of  Hermes,  and  that  this  surname  points  him  out 
as  the  founder  of  the  earliest  Boeotian  civilization.  Some 
features  of  the  story  are  undoubtedly  of  great  antiquity ; 


198          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

the  slaying  of  the  dragon,  for  instance,  typifies  the  success- 
ful reduction  of  the  natural  obstacles  to  the  clearance  of 
the  land.  Boaotia  was,  in  early  days,  a  very  marshy  coun- 
try ;  and  Ares,  to  whom  the  dragon  was  sacred,  had  the 
character  of  a  destructive,  pestilence-sending  deity.  So  also 
with  the  sowing  of  the  dragon's  teeth  and  the  springing 
up  of  armed  men,  by  which  the  Thebans  signified  that  they 
were  autochthonous,  i.  e.,  original  inhabitants  of  the  country. 
2.  Actceon. — We  have  already  incidentally  mentioned 
the  fortunes  of  three  of  the  daughters  of  Cadmus  —  Ino, 
Semele,  and  Agave.  The  eldest,  Autonoe,  married  Aristse- 
us,  the  son  of  Apollo,  and  became  by  him  the  mother  of 
Actseon.  Actseon  was  handed  over  to  Chiron  to  be  reared 
as  a  stout  hunter  and  warrior ;  but  he  had  scarcely  reached 
the  prime  of  youth  when  he  was  overtaken  by  a  lamenta- 
ble fate.  While  hunting  one  day  on  Mount  Cithseron,  he 
was  changed  by  Artemis  into  a  stag,  and  was  torn  in  pieces 
by  his  own  dogs.  The  cause  of  her  anger  was  either  that 
Actseon  had  boasted  that  he  was  a  more  skilful  hunter 
than  Artemis,  or  that  he  had  surprised  the  virgin-goddess 
bathing.  The  latter  tradition  ultimately  prevailed,  and,  in 
later  times,  even  the  rock  whence  he  beheld  Artemis  was 
pointed  out  on  the  road  between  Megara  and  Platsea.  He 
received  heroic  honors  in  Boeotia,  and  his  protection  was 
invoked  against  the  deadly  power  of  the  sun  in  the  dog- 
days.  The  story  of  Actseon  is  probably  nothing  but  a  rep- 
resentation of  the  decay  of  verdant  nature  beneath  an  op- 
pressive summer  heat. 

The  story  of  Actaeon's  transformation  and  death  was  a  farorite 
subject  for  sculpture.  A  small  marble  group,  representing  Actaeon 
beating  off  two  dogs  which  are  attacking  him,  was  found  in  1774, 
and  is  now  preserved  in  the  British  Museum  (Fig.  51). 


Fig.  51.— Actseon  Group.    British  Museum. 


200          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

3.  Amphion  and  Zethus. —  Besides  the  roy?I  family  oi 
Cadmus,  which  was  continued  in  Thebes  after  his  depart- 
ure by  his  son  Polydorus,  we  come  across  the  scions  of 
another  ruling  family  of  Thebes  which  came  from  Hyria, 
or  Hysia,  in  Bosotia,  in  the  persons  of  Amphion  and  Ze- 
thus. Nycteus,  King  of  Thebes,  had  a  wonderfully  beauti- 
ful daughter  called  Antiope,  whose  favors  Zeus  enjoyed  on 
approaching  her  in  the  form  of  a  satyr.  On  becoming 
pregnant,  she  fled  from  the  resentment  of  her  father  to  Sic- 
yon,  where  the  king,  Epopeus,  received  her  and  made  her 
his  wife.  This  enraged  Nycteus,  who  made  war  on  Epo- 
peus, in  order  to  compel  him  to  deliver  up  his  daughter  An- 
tiope. He  was  obliged  to  retire  without  accomplishing  his 
purpose,  but,  on  his  death,  he  intrusted  the  execution  of 
his  vengeance  to  his  brother  Lycus,  who  succeeded  him. 
Lycus  defeated  and  slew  Epopeus,  destroyed  Sicyon,  and 
took  Antiope  back  with  him  as  prisoner.  On  the  way, 
at  Eleutherse,  on  Cithaeron,  she  gave  birth  to  the  twins  Am- 
phion and  Zethus.  These  were  immediately  exposed,  but 
were  subsequently  discovered,  and  brought  up  by  a  compas- 
sionate shepherd.  Antiope  was  not  only  kept  prisoner  in 
the  house  of  Lycus,  but  had  also  to  submit  to  the  most 
harsh  and  humiliating  treatment  at  the  hands  of  his  wife 
Dirce.  At  length  she  managed  to  escape,  and  by  a  won- 
derful chance  discovered  her  two  sons,  who  had  grown,  on 
lonely  Cithajron,  into  sturdy  youths.  The  story  of  her 
wrongs  so  enraged  them  that  they  resolved  to  wreak  a 
cruel  vengeance  on  Dirce.  After  having  taken  Thebes, 
and  slain  Lycus,  they  bound  Dirce  to  the  horns  of  a  wild 
bull,  which  dragged  her  about  till  she  perished.  Accord- 
ing to  another  story,  Dirce  came  to  Cithaeron  to  celebrate 
the  festival  of  Bacchus.  Here  she  found  her  runaway 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  201 

slave,  whom  she  was  about  to  punish  by  having  her  bound 
to  the  horns  of  a  bull.  Happily,  however,  Amphion  and 
Zethus  recognized  their  mother,  and  inflicted  on  the  cruel 
Dirce  the  punishment  she  had  destined  for  another.  Her 
mangled  remains,  they  cast  into  the  spring  near  Thebes 
which  bears  her  name. 

The  punishment  of  Dirce  forms  the  subject  of  numerous  pieces  of 
sculpture.  The  most  important  among  them  is  the  Farnese  Bull 
(Toro  Farnese)  in  the  Museum  at  Naples  (Fig.  52).  This  world-re- 
nowned marble  group  is  supposed,  with  the  exception  of  certain 


Fig.  52.— Farnese  Bull.    Naples. 


202  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

parts  which  have  been  restored  in  modern  times,  to  have  been  the 
work  of  the  brothers  Apollonius  and  Tauriscus,  of  Tralles,  in  Caria. 
Apollonius  and  Tauriscus  belonged  to  the  Rhodian  school,  which 
flourished  in  the  third  century  B.C.  This  colossal  group — undoubt- 
edly the  largest  which  has  descended  to  us  from  antiquity — was  first 
erected  in  Rhodes,  but  came,  during  the  reign  of  Augustus,  into  the 
possession  of  Asinius  Pollio,  the  great  art-patron.  It  was  discovered 
in  1547  in  the  Thermae  of  Caracalla  at  Rome,  and  was  set  up  in  the 
Palazzo  Farnese.  It  was  thence  transferred  to  Naples  in  1786,  as 
a  portion  of  the  Farnese  inheritance.  The  following  is  a  brief  ex- 
planation of  the  group,  though,  of  course,  the  most  complete  account 
could  give  but  an  imperfect  idea  of  its  beauty.  The  scene  is  laid 
on  the  rocky  heights  of  Cithaeron.  The  position  of  the  handsome 
youths  on  a  rocky  crag  is  as  picturesque  as  it  is  dangerous,  and 
serves  not  only  to  lend  the  group  a  pyramidal  aspect  pleasing  to  the 
eye,  but  also  to  set  before  us  their  marvellous  strength.  There  are 
several  tokens  that  the  occurrence  took  place  during  a  Bacchic  festi- 
val :  the  wicker  cista  mystica  in  use  at  the  festivals  of  Dionysus ;  the 
fawn  skin  which  Dirce  wears ;  the  ivy  garland  that  has  fallen  at 
her  feet ;  the  broken  thyrsus ;  and,  lastly,  the  Bacchic  insignia  which 
distinguish  the  shepherd  boy,  who  is  sitting  on  the  right  watching 
the  proceedings  with  painful  interest — all  point  to  this  fact.  The 
lyre  which  rests  against  the  tree  behind  Amphion  is  a  token  of  his 
well-known  love  of  music.  The  female  figure  in  the  background  is 
Antiope. 

The  story  goes  on  to  relate  that  the  two  brothers,  after 
the  expulsion  and  death  of  Lycus,  acquired  the  sovereign- 
ty of  Thebes,  though  Amphion  always  figures  as  the  real 
king.  The  two  brothers  were  widely  different  in  disposi- 
tion and  character.  Zethus  appears  to  have  been  rude  and 
harsh,  and  passionately  fond  of  the  chase.  Amphion,  on 
the  other  hand,  is  represented  as  a  friend  of  the  Muses, 
and  devoted  to  music  and  poetry.  He  soon  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  proving  his  wondrous  skill  when  they  began  to 
enclose  Thebes,  which  had  been  before  unprotected,  with 
walls  and  towers ;  for  while  Zethus  removed  great  blocks 
and  piled  them  one  on  another  by  means  of  his  vast 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  203 

strength,  Amphion  had  but  to  touch  the  strings  of  his  lyre 
and  break  forth  into  some  sweet  melody,  and  the  mighty 
stones  moved  of  their  own  accord  and  obediently  fitted 
themselves  together.  This  is  why  Amphion  is  always  rep- 
resented in  sculpture  with  a  lyre,  and  Zethus  with  a  club. 
We  can  scarcely  doubt  that  these  Theban  Dioscuri,  like  the 
Castor  and  Polydeuces  of  Sparta,  who  are  well  known 
to  be  only  symbols  of  the  morning  and  evening  star,  were 
originally  personifications  of  some  natural  phenomenon ; 
though  we  are  no  longer  in  a  position  to  say  what  it  was. 

Amphion  is  further  celebrated  on  account  of  the  melan- 
choly fate  of  his  sons  and  daughters.  He  married  Niobe, 
the  daughter  of  the  Phrygian  king  Tantalus,  and  sister  of 
Pelops.  Great  was  the  happiness  of  this  marriage ;  the 
gods  seemed  to  shower  down  their  blessings  on  the  royal 
pair.  Many  blooming  and  lovely  children  grew  up  in  their 
palace,  the  pride  and  delight  of  their  happy  parents.  From 
this  paradise  of  purest  joy  and  happiness  they  were  soon 
to  pass  into  a  night  of  the  deepest  mourning  and  most 
cruel  affliction  through  the  presumption  of  Niobe  —  the 
same  presumption  which  had  led  her  father  Tantalus  to 
trifle  with  the  gods  and  consummate  his  own  ruin.  The 
heart  of  Niobe  was  lifted  up  with  pride  at  the  number  of 
her  children,*  and  she  ventured  to  prefer  herself  to  Latona, 
who  had  only  two ;  nay,  she  even  went  so  far  as  to  forbid 

*  The  number  of  Niobe's  children  varies  materially.  Homer  ("  Il- 
iad," xxiv.,  602)  gives  her  six  sons  and  as  many  daughters.  According 
to  Hesiod  and  Pindar,  she  had  ten  sons  and  ten  daughters ;  but  the 
most  common  account,  and  that  followed  by  the  tragic  poets,  allows 
her  fourteen  children.  Everywhere  the  number  of  sons  and  daugh- 
ters appears  to  be  equal.  The  story  of  Niobe  was  frequently  treated 
of  by  the  tragic  poets,  both  ^Eschylus  and  Sophocles  having  written 
tragedies  bearing  he*1  name. 


204  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

the  Thebans  to  offer  sacrifice  to  Latona  and  her  children, 
and  to  claim  these  honors  herself.  The  vengeance  of  the 
offended  deities,  however,  now  overtook  her,  and  all  her 
children  were  laid  low  in  one  day  before  the  unerring  ar- 
rows of  Apollo  and  his  sister.  The  parents  did  not  sur- 
vive this  deep  affliction.  Amphic^i  slew  himself,  and  Ni- 
obe,  already  paralyzed  with  grief,  was  turned  into  stone  by 
the  pity  of  the  gods,  and  transferred  to  her  old  Phrygian 
home  on  Mount  Sipylus,  though  even  the  stone  has  not 
ceased  to  weep. 

Such  is  the  substance  of  this  beautiful  legend,  though 
its  details  vary  considerably  in  the  accounts  of  the  poets 
and  mythologists.  The  most  circumstantial  and  richly  col- 
ored account  of  it  is  contained  in  the  "  Metamorphoses " 
of  Ovid.  The  poets  have  continually  striven  to  impose  a 
purely  ethical  interpretation  on  the  story,  by  representing 
the  destruction  of  the  children  of  Niobe  as  the  conse- 
quence of  the  great  sin  of  their  mother;  but  it  is  more 
probably  a  physical  meaning  which  lies  at  the  root  of  the 
legend.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  picture  of  the  melting  of  the  snow 
before  the  hot,  scorching  rays  of  the  sun.  This  incident 
the  fertile  imagination  of  the  Greeks  portrayed  in  the 
most  beautiful  metaphors.  But  just  as  a  subject  so  purely 
tragic  as  the  history  of  Niobe  found  its  first  true  devel- 
opment in  tragic  poetry,  so  likewise  it  only  attained  its 
proper  place  in  sculpture  after  art  had  laid  aside  its  earlier 
and  more  simple  epic  character,  and  set  itself  to  depict, 
in  their  full  force,  the  inward  passions  of  the  soul.  This 
tendency  towards  pathos  and  effect  is  characteristic  of  the 
age  of  Praxiteles  and  Scopas,  and  the  later  Attic  school. 

To  this  age  (fourth  century  B.C.)  belonged  the  group  of  Niobe, 
which  was  so  highly  celebrated  even  among  the  ancients,  and  which 


PROVINCIAL  HEROIC  LEGENDS.  205 

was  seen  by  Pliny  in  the  temple  of  Apollo  Sosianus  at  Rome,  al- 
though people  even  then  hesitated  whether  to  escribe  it  to  Praxiteles 
or  Scopas.  None  but  one  of  these  great  masters  could  have  been  thb 
author  of  the  tragedy  hewed  in  stone.  Although  the  original  figures 
of  this  magnificent  group  have  disappeared,  yet  copies  of  most  of 
them  are  still  in  existence.  With  regard  to  the  celebrated  Floren- 
tine Niobe  group,  the  dissimilarity  of  its  treatment,  and  the  various 
kinds  of  marble  employed,  serve  to  show  that  it  is  not  a  Greek  orig- 
inal, but  a  Roman  imitation.  It  was  found  at  Rome  in  1583,  near 
the  Lateran  Church,  and  was  purchased  by  Cardinal  Medici  to  adorn 
his  villa  on  the  Monte  Pincio.  In  1775  it  was  brought  to  Florence, 
where  it  has  remained  since  1794  in  the  gallery  of  the  Uffizi. 

There  has  never  been  but  one  opinion  as  to  the  beauty  of  this 
group.  First  among  the  figures — not  only  in  size,  but  also  in  artis- 
tic perfection  —  is  that  of  Niobe  herself.  The  unhappy  queen  dis- 
plays in  her  whole  bearing  so  majestic  and  noble  a  demeanor,  that, 
even  if  none  of  the  other  splendid  results  of  Greek  sculpture  had 
come  down  to  us,  this  alone  would  bear  amplf  testimony  to  the  high 
perfection  and  creative  power  of  Greek  art.  The  following  descrip- 
tion of  the  arrangement  of  the  group  is  taker  from  Liibke's  "  Histo- 
ry of  Plastic  Art :" 

"  Apollo  and  Artemis  are  to  be  supposed  ou'  side  the  group.  They 
have  accomplished  their  work  of  vengeance  md  destruction  from 
an  invisible  position  in  the  heavens.  This  is  denoted  by  each  move- 
ment of  the  flying  figures,  who  either  gaze  upward  in  affright  to- 
wards the  heavens,  or  seek  to  cover  themseber  with  their  garment?. 
One  of  the  sons  is  already  stretched  dead  on  tt .3  earth  ;  another  leans 
in  mortal  agony  against  a  rock,  fixing  his  eyes,  a' ready  glazed  in  death, 
on  the  spot  whence  destruction  has  overtaken  nim.  A  third  brother 
is  striving  in  vain  to  protect  with  his  robe  his  sister,  who  has  fallen 
wounded  at  his  feet,  and  to  catch  her  in  his  ar  us ;  another  has  sunk 
on  his  knees,  and  clutches  in  agony  at  the  wound  in  his  back ;  while 
his  preceptor  is  endeavoring  to  shield  the  yc  .ingest  boy.  All  the 
others  are  fleeing  instinctively  to  their  mother  thinking,  doubtless, 
that  she  who  had  so  often  afforded  protection  could  save  them  also 
from  the  avenging  arrows  of  the  gods.  Thuo  from  either  side  the 
waves  of  this  dreadful  flight  rush  towards  tb  -j  centre,  to  break  on 
the  sublime  figure  of  Niobe  as  upon  a  rock.  She  alone  stands  un- 
shaken in  all  her  sorrow,  mother  and  queen  to  the  last.  Clasping 
her  youngest  daughter,  whose  tender  years  havo  not  preserved  her,  in 
her  arms,  and  bending  over  as  though  to  shield  the  child,  she  turns 


206 


GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 


her  own  proud  head  upward,  and  before  her  left  hand  can  cover  her 
sorrow-stricken  face  with  her  robe,  she  casts  towards  the  avenging 
goddess  a  look  in  which  bitter  grief  is  blended  with  sublime  dignity 
of  soul  (Fig.  64).  In  this  look  there  is  neither  defiance  nor  prayer 


Fig.  54.— Niobe.    Florence. 

for  mercy,  but  a  sorrowful  and  yet  withal  lofty  expression  of  heroic 
resignation  to  inexorable  fate  that  is  worthy  of  a  Niobe.  This  ad- 
mirable figure,  then,  is  pre  -  eminently  the  central  point  of  the  com. 
position,  since  it  expresses  an  atonement  which,  in  a  scene  of  horrof 
and  annihilation,  stirs  the  heart  to  the  deepest  sympathy." 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  207 

Zethus  was  not  more  fortunate  than  Amphion  in  his  do- 
mestic affairs.  He  married  Aedon  (nightingale),  the  daugh- 
ter of  Pandareos.  Pandareos  was  the  friend  and  compan- 
ion of  Tantalus,  for  whom  he  stole  a  living  dog  made  of 
brass  from  the  temple  of  Zeus  in  Crete,  and  was  on  that 
account  turned  into  stone. 

Aedon  was  jealous  of  the  good  fortune  of  Niobe  in  hav- 
ing so  many  beautiful  children ;  she  herself  having  only 
one  son,  Itylus.  She  resolved,  one  night,  to  slay  the  eld- 
est son  of  Niobe,  but  she  killed,  in  mistake,  her  own  child 
instead.  Zeus  took  compassion  on  her,  and  changed  her 
into  a  nightingale.  In  this  guise  she  still  continues  to  be- 
wail her  loss  in  long-drawn  mournful  notes.  Tradition 
says  nothing  as  to  the  death  of  Zethus,  although  the  com- 
mon grave  of  the  Theban  Dioscuri  was  pointed  out  in 
Thebes.  After  his  death,  Laius,  the  son  of  Labdacus  and 
grandson  of  Polydorus,  restored  in  his  person  the  race  of 
Cadmus  to  the  throne  of  Thebes.  (See  the  legend  of  the 
Labdacidae,  later  on.) 

3.  Corinthian  Legend.  —  1.  Sisyphus. — Corinth,  or 
Ephyra,  as  it  was  formerly  called,  was  said  to  have  been 
founded  by  Sisyphus,  the  son  of  ^Eolus.  Its  inhabitants, 
on  account  of  the  position  of  their  city  between  two  seas, 
were  naturally  inclined  to  deify  that  element,  and  it  is  not 
improbable  that  Sisyphus  was  merely  an  ancient  symbol 
of  the  restless,  ever-rolling  waves  of  the  sea.  This  inter- 
pretation, however,  is  by  no  means  certain ;  and  the  idea 
of  Sisyphus  in  the  lower  world  ever  rolling  a  huge  stone 
to  the  top  of  a  mountain  might  equally  well  refer  to  the 
sun,  which,  after  attaining  its  highest  point  in  the  heavens 
at  the  time  of  the  summer  solstice,  glides  back  again,  only 


208          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

to  begin  its  career  anew  on  the  shortest  day.  In  any  case, 
the  rolling  of  the  stone  does  not  appear  to  have  been  orig- 
inally a  punishment.  It  was  only  later — after  people  had 
become  familiar  with  the  idea  of  retribution  in  the  lower 
world — that  it  assumed  this  character.  In  order  to  ac- 
count for  it,  a  special  crime  had  to  be  found  for  Sisyplxus. 
According  to  some,  he  was  punished  at  the  instance  of 
Zeus,  because  he  had  revealed  to  the  river-god  Asopus  the 
hiding-place  of  his  daughter  ^Egina,  whom  Zeus  had  se» 
cretly  carried  off  from  Phlius.  According  to  another  tra- 
dition, he  used  to  attack  travellers,  and  put  them  to  death 
by  crashing  them  with  great  stones.  The  Corinthians  be- 
ing crafty  men  of  business,  it  was  natural  that  they  should 
accredit  their  mythical  founder  with  a  refined  cunning. 
Of  the  numerous  legends  which  existed  concerning  him, 
none  was  more  celebrated  than  that  of  the  cunning  mode 
in  which  he  succeeded  in  binding  Death,  whom  Ares  had 
to  be  despatched  to  release. 

2.  Glaucus. — Tradition  describes  Glaucus  as  a  son  of 
Sisyphus  by  Merope.     He  also  appears  to  have  had  a  sym- 
bolic  meaning,  and   was   once   identical  with   Poseidon, 
though  he  was  afterward  degraded  from  the  rank  of  a  god 
to  that  of  a  hero.     He  is  remarkable  for  his  unfortunate 
end.     On  the  occasion  of  some  funeral  games,  celebrated 
in  lolcus  in  honor  of  Pelias,  he  took  part  in  the  chariot- 
race,  and  was  torn  in  pieces  by  his  own  horses,  which  had 
taken  fright. 

3.  Bellerophon  and  the  Legend  of  the  Amazons.  —  The 
third  national  hero  of  Corinth  was  Bellerophon,  or  Belle- 
rophontes.      Here  the  reference  to  the  sun  is  so  obvious 
that  the  signification  of  the  myth  is  unmistakable.      He 
was  termed  the  son  of  Poseidon  or  Glaucus,  and  none 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  209 

could  appreciate  this  genealogy  better  than  the  Corinthi- 
ans, who  daily  saw  the  sun  rise  from  the  sea.  We  must 
first,  however,  narrate  the  substance  of  the  story.  Bellero- 
phon  was  born  and  brought  up  at  Corinth,  but  was  obliged 
from  some  cause  or  other  to  leave  his  country.  That  he 
killed  Bellerus,  a  noble  of  Corinth,  is  nothing  but  a  fable 
arising  from  an  unfortunate  misinterpretation  of  his  name. 
He  was  hospitably  received  by  Proetus,  King  of  Tiryns, 
whose  wife  at  once  fell  in  love  with  the  handsome,  stately 
youth.  Finding,  however,  that  Bellerophon  slighted  her 
passion,  she  slandered  him  to  her  husband,  and  Proetus 
forthwith  sent  him  to  his  father-in-law,  lobates,  King  of 
Lycia,  with  a  tablet,  mysterious  signs  on  which  bade  lo- 
bates put  the  bearer  to  death.  At  this  juncture  the  heroic 
career  of  Bellerophon  begins.  lobates  sought  to  fulfil  the 
command  of  Proetus  by  involving  his  guest  in  all  kinds  of 
desperate  adventures.  He  first  sent  him  to  destroy  the 
ChimaBra,  a  dangerous  monster  that  devastated  the  land. 
The  fore  part  of  its  body  was  that  of  a  lion,  the  centre  that 
of  a  goat,  and  the  hinder  part  that  of  a  dragon.  Accord- 
ing to  Hesiod,  it  had  three  heads — that  of  a  lion,  a  goat, 
and  a  dragon.  According  to  the  same  poet,  the  Chimtcra 
was  a  fire-breathing  monster  of  great  swiftness  and  strength, 
the  daughter  of  Typhon  and  Echidna.  Bellerophon  de- 
stroyed the  monster  by  raising  himself  in  the  air  on  his 
winged  horse  Pegasus,  and  shooting  it  with  his  arrows. 
Pegasus  was  the  offspring  of  Poseidon  and  Medusa,  from 
whose  trunk  it  sprung  after  Perseus  had  struck  off  her 
head.  Bellerophon  captured  this  wonderful  animal  as  it 
descended  at  the  Acro-Corinthus  to  drink  of  the  spring  of 
Pirene.  In  this  he  was  assisted  by  the  goddess  Athene, 
who  also  taught  him  how  to  tame  and  use  it.  Here,  then, 

14 


210  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

he  appears  to  have  already  possessed  the  horse  at  Corinth; 
though  another  tradition  relates  that  Pegasus  was  first  sent 
to  him  when  he  set  out  to  conquer  the  Chimaera.  The  or- 
igin of  the  story  is  ascribed  to  a  fiery  mountain  in  Lycia ; 
but,  as  all  dragons  and  such-like  monsters  of  antiquity  are 
represented  as  breathing  forth  fire  and  flames,  we  are  per- 
haps scarcely  justified  in  having  recourse  to  a  volcano. 
This  characteristic  is,  in  fact,  merely  a  common  symbol 
of  the  furious  and  dangerous  character  of  these  monsters. 
The  contest  of  Bellerophon  is  far  more  likely  to  be  a  pict- 
ure of  the  drying  up,  by  means  of  the  sun's  rays,  of  the 
furious  mountain  torrents  which  flood  the  corn-fields. 

The  next  adventure  in  which  lobates  engaged  Bellero- 
phon was  an  expedition  against  the  Solymi,  a  neighboring 
but  hostile  mountain  tribe.  After  he  had  been  successful 
in  subduing  them,  lobates  sent  him  against  the  warlike 
Amazons,  hoping  that  among  them  he  would  be  certain  to 
meet  his  death.  We  here,  for  the  first  time,  come  across 
this  remarkable  nation  of  women,  with  whom  other  Greek 
heroes,  such  as  Heracles  and  Theseus,  are  said  to  have 
fought ;  and  it  will  not,  therefore,  be  foreign  to  our  object 
to  dwell  here  on  their  most  important  features. 

The  Amazons  appear  in  legend  as  early  as  Homer,  though 
he  only  mentions  them  incidentally.  They  were  said  to 
be  a  nation  of  women,  who  suffered  no  men  among  them, 
except  so  far  as  it  was  necessary  to  keep  up  the  race.  The 
women,  on  the  other  hand,  were  trained  from  their  earliest 
years  in  all  warlike  exercises ;  so  that  they  were  not  only 
sufficiently  powerful  to  defend  their  own  land  against  for- 
eign invaders,  but  also  to  make  plundering  incursions  into 
other  countries.  Their  dominions,  the  situation  of  which 
was  at  first  indefinitely  described  as  in  the  far  north  or  fas 


PROVINCIAL  HEROIC  LEGENDS.  211 

west,  were  afterward  reduced  to  more  distinct  limits,  and 
placed  in  Cappadocia,  on  the  river  Thermodon,  their  capi- 
tal being  Themiscyra,  in  Scythia,  on  the  borders  of  Lake 
Mseotis,  where  their  intercourse  with  the  Scythians  is  said 
to  have  given  rise  to  the  Sarmatian  tribes.  Later  writers 
also  speak  of  the  Amazons  in  Western  Libya.  Of  the  nu- 
merous stories  rife  concerning  them,  none  is  more  taste- 
less than  that  of  their  cutting  off  or  burning  out  the  right 
breast,  in  order  not  to  incommode  themselves  in  the  use  of 
the  bow.  This  obviously  originated  in  a  misconception  of 
their  name,  Avhich  is  certainly  not  of  Greek  origin,  and  has 
never  yet  been  satisfactorily  explained.  From  the  Ther- 
moden  they  are  said  to  have  made  great  expeditions  as  far 
as  the  ^Egean  sea ;  they  are  even  reported  to  have  invaded 
Attica,  and  made  war  on  Theseus.  They  also  play  a  prom- 
inent part  in  the  story  of  Heracles,  by  whom  they  were  de- 
feated ;  and  in  the  Trojan  war,  when,  under  their  queen, 
Penthesilea,  they  came  to  the  assistance  of  Priam  against 
the  Greeks. 

The  Amazons  were  frequently  represented  in  Greek  art.  They  are 
here  depicted  as  fine,  powerful  women,  resembling  Artemis  and  her 
nymphs,  though  with  stouter  legs  and  arms.  They  generally  appear 
armed,  their  weapons  being  a  long  double-edged  battle-axe  (bipennis) 
and  a  semicircular  shield.  An  anecdote  related  by  Pliny  proves  what 
a  favorite  subject  the  Amazons  were  with  Greek  artists.  He  says 
that  the  celebrated  sculptors,  Phidias,  Polycletus,  Phradmon,  and 
Cresilas  made  a  wager  as  to  who  should  create  the  most  beautiful 
Amazon.  Polycletus  received  the  prize;  so  that  we  may  conclude 
that  he  brought  this  statue — the  ideal  Amazon  of  the  Greeks — to  its 
highest  perfection.  Unfortunately,  we  know  nothing  of  it,  except 
that  it  was  of  bronze,  and  stood  with  the  statues  of  the  other  ar- 
tists in  the  temple  of  the  Ephesian  Artemis.  The  Amazon  of  Phidias, 
we  are  told,  was  represented  as  leaning  on  a  spear ;  Cresilas,  on  the 
other  hand,  endeavored  to  portray  a  wounded  Amazon.  Besides 
these  statues,  we  hear  a  great  deal  of  the  Amazon  of  Strongylion,  eel- 


Fig.  55. — Amazon.    Berlin. 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  213 

ebrated  for  the  beauty  of  her  legs,  which  was  in  the  possession  of 
Nero. 

We  still  possess  a  considerable  number  of  Amazon  statues,  some 
of  which  are  supposed  to  be  imitations  in  marble  of  the  renowned 
statue  at  Ephesus.  There  are,  moreover,  several  statues  of  wound- 
ed Amazons,  some  of  which  are  believed  to  be  copies  of  the  work  of 
Cresilas.  There  is  also  another  marble  statue,  considerably  larger 
than  life,  which  takes  a  still  higher  rank.  It  was  originally  set  up 
in  the  Villa  Mattel,  but  since  the  time  of  Clement  XIV.  it  has  been 
in  the  Vatican  collection.  It  is  apparently  a  representation  of  an 
Amazon  resting  after  battle ;  she  is  in  the  act  of  laying  aside  her 
bow,  as  she  has  already  done  her  shield,  battle-axe,  and  helmet.  In 
doing  so,  she  raises  herself  slightly  on  her  left  foot  —  an  attitude 
which  is  as  charming  as  it  is  natural. 

Lastly,  we  must  not  omit  to  mention  a  statue  that  has  newly  come 
into  the  possession  of  the  Berlin  Museum,  which  is  supposed  to  be 
after  a  work  of  Polycletus  (Fig.  55). 

We  must  now  return  to  the  history  of  Bellerophon. 
After  returning  in  triumph  from  his  expedition  against 
the  Amazons,  the  life  of  the  young  hero  was  once  more 
attempted  by  lobates,  who  caused  him  to  be  surprised  by 
an  ambuscade.  Bellerophon,  however,  again  escaped,  slay- 
ing all  his  assailants.  lobates  now  ceased  from  further  per- 
secution, and  gave  him  his  daughter  in  marriage,  and  a 
share  in  the  kingdom  of  Lycia.  Bellerophon,  in  full  pos 
session  of  power  and  riches,  and  surrounded  by  blooming 
children,  seemed  to  have  reached  the  summit  of  earthly 
prosperity,  when  he  was  overtaken  by  a  grievous  change 
of  fortune.  He  was  seized  with  madness,  and  wandered 
about  alone,  fleeing  the  society  of  men,  until  he  at  length 
perished  miserably.  Pindar  says  that  he  incurred  the  en- 
mity of  the  gods  by  attempting  to  fly  to  heaven  on  his 
winged  horse  Pegasus ;  whereupon  Zeus  sent  a  gadfly  to 
sting  the  horse.  Pegasus  cast  off  Bellerophon,  and  flew 
of  his  own  accord  to  the  stables  of  Zeus,  whose  thunder 


214          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

chariot  he  has  ever  since  drawn.  The  sad  fate  of  Bellero- 
phon  was  the  subject  of  a  touching  tragedy  of  Euripides, 
some  parts  of  which  are  still  in  existence.  Heroic  honors 
were  paid  to  Bellerophon  in  Corinth,  and  he  also  had  a 
shrine  in  the  celebrated  cypress-grove  of  Poseidon. 

4.  Argive  Legend.  —  1.  Io.  —  The  first  personage 
who  meets  us  on  the  very  threshold  of  the  mythic  age 
of  Argos  is  Inachus,  the  god  of  the  Argive  river  of  that 
name.  Inachus  was  venerated  by  the  inhabitants  as  the 
first  founder  of  Argive  civilization  after  the  flood  of  Deu- 
calion. By  his  union  with  Melia,  the  daughter  of  Oceanus, 
he  became  the  father  of  Io,  famed  for  her  beauty,  whose 
history,  which  is  of  great  antiquity,  has  been  so  greatly  em- 
bellished by  the  poets  and  legendary  writers.  The  follow- 
ing is  the  substance  of  the  story : 

Io  was  the  priestess  of  Hera.  Her  great  beauty  attract- 
ed the  notice  of  Zeus.  On  remarking  this,  Hera,  in  her 
jealousy,  changed  Io  into  a  white  heifer,  and  set  the  hun- 
dred-eyed Argus  Panoptes  (the  all -seeing)  to  watch  her. 
Zeus,  however,  sent  Hermes  to  take  away  the  heifer.  Her- 
mes first  lulled  the  guardian  to  sleep  with  his  wand,  and 
then  slew  him,  whence  he  is  called  Argiphontes  (slayer  of 
Argus).  Hera  avenged  herself  by  sending  a  gadfly  to  tor- 
ment Io,  who,  in  her  madness,  wandered  through  Europe 
and  Asia,  until  she  at  length  found  rest  in  Egypt,  where, 
touched  by  the  hand  of  Zeus,  she  recovered  her  original 
form,  and  gave  birth  to  a  son.  This  son,  who  was  called 
Epaphus,  afterward  became  king  of  Egypt,  and  built  Mem- 
phis. The  myth,  as  we  have  already  remarked,  has  re- 
ceived many  embellishments,  for  the  wanderings  of  Io 
grew  mor«  and  more  extensive  with  the  growth  of  geo 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  215 

graphical  knowledge.  The  true  interpretation  of  the 
myth  is  due  to  F.  W.  Wclcker,  whose  meritorious  research- 
es in  Greek  mythology  have  proved  of  such  great  value, 
lo  (the  wanderer)  is  the  moon,  whose  apparently  irregular 
course  and  temporary  disappearance  were  considered  a  most 
curious  phenomenon  by  the  ancients.  The  moon-goddess 
of  antiquity  was  very  frequently  represented  under  the  fig- 
ure of  a  heifer ;  and  Isis  herself,  the  Egyptian  goddess  of 
the  moon,  was  always  depicted  with  horns.  The  guar- 
dian of  the  heifer,  the  hundred-eyed  Argus,  is  a  symbol  of 
the  starry  heaven.  Argus  was  slain  by  Hermes,  the  rain 
god ;  in  other  words,  the  stars  were  rendered  invisible  by 
the  clouds.  There  is  nothing  extraordinary  in  represent- 
ing the  apparent  irregularity  of  the  moon's  course,  inex- 
plicable as  it  was  to  the  ancients,  under  the  guise  of  men- 
tal disorder.  Similar  representations  occur  in  the  stories 
of  the  solar  heroes,  Bellerophon  and  Heracles.  In  the 
south-east — the  direction  in  which  Egypt  lay  from  Greece 
— lo  again  appears  as  full  moon,  in  her  original  shape. 

2.  Danaus  and  the  Danaids. — According  to  the  legend, 
Danaiis  was  a  descendant  of  lo.  Epaphus,  the  son  of  lo, 
had  a  daughter  Libya,  who  bore  to  Poseidon  two  sons, 
Agenor  and  Belus.  The  former  reigned  over  Phoenicia, 
the  latter  over  Egypt.  Belus,  by  his  union  with  Anchinoe, 
or  Achiroe,  the  daughter  of  the  Nile,  became  the  father  of 
^Egyptus  and  Danaus.  Between  these  two  brothers — the 
farmer  of  whom  had  fifty  sons  and  the  latter  fifty  daugh- 
ters— a  deadly  enmity  arose ;  this  induced  Danaus  to  mi* 
grate  from  Egypt  and  seek  the  old  home  of  his  ancestress, 
lo.  He  embarked  with  his  fifty  daughters  in  a  ship — the 
first  that  was  ever  built — and  thus  came  to  Argos,  where 
Gelanor,  the  reigning  descendant  of  Inachus,  resigned  the 


216  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

crown  in  his  favor.  As  King  of  Argos,  Danatis  is  said  to 
have  brought  the  land,  which  suffered  from  want  of  water, 
to  a  higher  state  of  cultivation  by  watering  it  with  wells 
and  canals.  He  is  also  said  to  have  introduced  the  wor- 
ship of  Apollo  and  Demeter.  The  story  proceeds  to  relate 
that  the  fifty  sons  of  JEgyptus  followed  their  uncle  to  Ar- 
gos, and  compelled  him  to  give  them  his  fifty  daughters 
in  marriage.  Danaiis,  in  revenge,  gave  each  of  his  daugh- 
ters on  the  wedding-day  a  dagger,  arid  commanded  them 
to  slay  their  husbands  in  the  night.  All  obeyed  his  com- 
mand except  Hypermnestra,  who  spared  her  husband  Lyn- 
ceus,  and  afterward  even  succeeded,  Avith  the  assistance  of 
Aphrodie,  in  effecting  his  reconciliation  with  her  father. 
Lynceus  succeeded  Danatis  in  the  kingdom,  and  became, 
by  his  son  Abas,  the  ancestor  of  both  the  great  Argive  he- 
roes, Perseus  and  Heracles.  At  a  later  period,  the  fable 
sprung  up  that  the  Dana'ids  were  punished  for  their  crimes 
in  the  lower  world  by  having  continually  to  pour  water 
into  a  cask  full  of  holes.  It  has  been  frequently  remarked 
that  this  punishment  has  no  conceivable  connection  with 
the  crime.  Neither  must  we  forget  that  the  idea  of  retri- 
bution in  the  lower  world  was  of  a  comparatively  late  date. 
Originally,  too,  the  idea  prevailed  that  the  pursuits  of  the 
npper  world  were  continued  after  death  in  the  realms  of 
Hades.  And  herein  lies  the  key  to  the  interpretation  of 
the  myth,  which  is  evidently  connected  with  the  irrigation 
of  Argos  ascribed  to  Danaus. 

3.  Proetus  and  his  Daughters.  —  Acrisius  and  Proetus 
were  twin  sons  of  Abas,  the  son  of  Lynceus  and  Hyperm- 
nestra. Between  these  two  brothers  an  implacable  hostili- 
ty existed,  which  was  said  by  the  poets  to  have  commenced 
«>,ven  in  their  mother's  womb.  Proetas  received,  as  his  share 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  217 

of  the  patrimony,  the  kingdom  of  Tiryns ;  but  he  was  sub- 
sequently expelled  by  his  brother,  and  took  refuge  at  the 
court  of  lobates,  King  of  Lycia.  lobates  gave  him  his 
daughter  Antea,  or  Stheneboea,  in  marriage,  and  afterward 
restored  him  to  his  kingdom  of  Tiryns.  Proetus,  with  the 
aid  of  the  Lycian  workmen  whom  he  had  brought  with 
him  (Cyclopes),  built  a  strong  fortress,  which  enabled  him 
not  only  to  maintain  peaceable  possession  of  Tiryns,  but 
also  to  extend  his  dominion  as  far  as  Corinth.  The  legend 
then  passes  to  the  history  of  his  three  daughters,  the  Proe- 
tides,  whose  pride  was  so  excited  by  their  father's  great- 
ness and  their  own  beauty  that  they  began  to  think  them- 
selves superior  to  the  gods.  Their  arrogance,  however,  was 
soon  punished,  for  they  were  visited  with  a  foul  disease  and 
driven  mad.  They  now  fled  the  society  of  mankind,  and 
wandered  about  among  the  mountains  and  woods  of  Argos 
and  Arcadia.  At  length  Proetus  succeeded  in  procuring 
the  services  of  the  celebrated  soothsayer  and  purifier  Me- 
lampus,  who  undertook  the  purification  and  cure  of  his 
daughters.  It  was  reported  of  Melampus  that  serpents  had 
licked  his  ears  while  asleep,  and  that  he  acquired,  in  con- 
sequence, a  knowledge  of  the  language  of  birds.  He  suc- 
cessfully accomplished  the  cure  of  the  Proetides,  and  re- 
ceived as  a  reward  the  hand  of  the  princess  Iphianassa,  in 
addition  to  which  both  he  and  his  brother  Bias  received  a 
share  in  the  sovereignty  of  Tiryns.  Thus  it  was  that  the 
race  of  the  Amythaonidae,  who  all  inherited  the  gift  of  see- 
ing into  futurity,  and  from  whom  the  celebrated  soothsayer 
Amphiaraiis  himself  was  descended,  came  to  Argos. 

4.  Perseus.  —  Acrisius,  the  brother  of  Proetus,  had  a 
daughter  called  Danae,  whose  fortune  it  was  to  gain  the 
love  of  the  great  ruler  of  Olympus.  Her  father,  Acrisius, 


218          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

was  induced  by  an  oracle,  Avhich  foretold  that  he  should 
be  killed  by  his  own  grandson,  to  immure  Danae  in  a  sub- 
terraneous chamber.  Zeus,  however,  in  his  love  for  her, 
changed  himself  into  a  shower  of  golden  rain,  and  thus 
introduced  himself  through  the  roof  of  her  prison.  Thus 
was  the  godlike  hero  Perseus  born.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  this  myth,  too,  is  founded  on  the  idea  of  the 
bridal  union  of  heaven  and  earth ;  this  is  one  of  the  pict- 
ures of  nature  which  the  mind  most  readily  forms.  Danae 
represents  the  country  of  Argos ;  her  prison  is  the  heaven, 
enveloped,  during  the  gloomy  months  of  winter,  with  thick 
clouds.  Her  offspring  by  Zeus  represents  the  light  of  the 
sun,  which  returns  in  the  spring-time  and  begins,  like  a  ver- 
itable hero,  its  contest  with  the  powers  of  death  and  dark- 
ness. The  Gorgon  Medusa  has  the  same  significance  in 
the  history  of  Perseus  that  the  hideous  Python  has  in  that 
of  Apollo. 

The  legend  then  proceeds  to  relate  that  Acrisius,  having 
heard  of  the  birth  of  his  grandson,  to  avert  the  fate  threat- 
ened by  the  oracle,  ordered  mother  and  child  to  be  con- 
fined in  a  chest  and  cast  into  the  sea.  But  human  wis- 
dom avails  naught  against  the  inevitable  decrees  of  Heaven. 
The  chest  was  cast  by  the  waves  on  the  rocky  island  of 
Seriphus,  where  it  was  found  by  the  fisherman  Dictys  ;  and 
Danae  and  her  child  were  hospitably  received  and  cared 
for  by  Dictys  and  his  brother  Polydectes,  the  ruler  of  the 
island.  The  latter,  however,  subsequently  wished  to  marry 
Danae,  and  on  her  rejecting  his  advances  made  her  a  slave. 
Fearing  the  vengeance  of  Perseus,  he  despatched  him,  as 
soon  as  he  was  grown  up,  on  a  most  perilous  adventure. 
This  was  no  other  than  to  bring  him  the  head  of  the  Gor- 
gon Medusa  —  a  terrible  winged  woman,  who  dwelt  with 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  219 

her  two  sisters,  the  daughters  of  Phorc  ys  and  Ceto,  on  the 
farthest  western  shore  of  the  earth,  OP  the  border  of  Oce- 
amis.  Perseus  set  out,  though  he  was  in  the  greatest  per- 
plexity how  to  accomplish  so  perilous  a  task.  Hermes, 
however,  at  this  juncture  came  to  hi?  aid;  and  Athene, 
the  special  patroness  of  heroes,  inspired  him  with  courage. 
These  deities  first  showed  him  how  to  procure  the  neces- 
sary means  for  accomplishing  his  undertaking,  which  con- 
sisted of  an  invisible  helmet,  a  magic  wallet,  and  a  pair 
of  winged  sandals.  All  these  were  in  the  hands  of  the 
Nymphs,  by  whom  probably  the  water-i.ymphs  are  meant. 
The  way  to  their  abode  he  could  only  leern  from  the  GraBse. 
These  creatures,  who  were  likewise  the  daughters  of  Phorcys 
and  Ceto,  were  reported  to  have  come  into  the  world  as  old 
women ;  their  very  appearance  was  appalling,  and  they  had 
but  one  eye  and  one  tooth  between  them,  of  which  they 
made  use  in  turn.  They,  too,  dwelt  on  the  outskirts  of 
the  gloomy  region  inhabited  by  the  Gor  ?ons,  whence  they 
are  called  by  JEschylus  their  sentinels.  Under  the  guid- 
ance of  Apollo  and  Athene,  Perseus  came  to  the  Gr«ea3. 
He  then  robbed  them  of  their  one  eye  and  one  tooth,  and 
thus  forced  them  to  tell  him  the  way  to  the  habitations  of 
the  Nymphs.  From  the  latter  he  at  once  obtained  the  ob- 
jects he  sought ;  and  having  donned  his  winged  sandals, 
he  hastened  to  the  abode  of  the  Gorgons,  whom  he  fortu 
nately  discovered  asleep.  Athene  then  pointed  out  to  hire 
Medusa — the  other  two  sisters,  Stheno  and  Euryale,  being 
immortal — and  enjoined  him  to  appr  ,ach  them  carefully 
backward,  as  the  sight  of  their  faces  would  infallibly  turn 
any  mortal  into  stone.  With  the  he^p  of  her  mirror-like 
shield  and  the  sickle  of  Hermes,  Perseus  succeeded  in  cut- 
ting off  the  head  of  Medusa  without  looking  round ;  and 


220          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

having  placed  the  Lead  in  his  wallet,  he  hastened  away. 
His  helmet,  which  rendered  him  invisible,  enabled  him  to 
escape  the  pursuit  of  the  other  Gorgons,  who  had  mean- 
while awaked.  From  the  trunk  of  Medusa  sprung  the 
winged  horse  Pegasus,  and  Chrysaor,  the  father  of  Gery- 
ones.  On  his  return  to  Seriphus,  Perseus  turned  the  un- 
righteous Polydectes  into  stone  by  means  of  the  Gorgon's 
head,  which  he  then  presented  to  Athene ;  and  after  mak- 
ing his  benefactor,  Dictys,  king  of  the  island,  he  turned  his 
steps  towards  his  native  place,  Argos.  Such  are  the  essen- 
tial features  of  the  myth — concerning  which,  in  spite  of  its 
antiquity,  we  have  no  earlier  sources  of  information — such 
is  the  original  frame -work  on  which  was  afterward  built 
up  the  history  of  the  further  adventures  of  the  hero.  The 
most  celebrated  of  these  was  the  rescue  of  Andromeda, 
which  formed  the  subject  of  a  drama  of  Euripides,  and  was 
also  highly  popular  among  artists  and  poets.  The  follow- 
ing is  a  brief  account  of  this  exploit :  Cassiopea,  the  wife 
of  Cepheus,  King  of  ^Ethiopia,  ventured  to  extol  her  own 
beauty  above  that  of  the  Nereids,  who  thereupon  besought 
Poseidon  to  avenge  them.  He  granted  their  request,  and 
not  only  overwhelmed  the  land  with  disastrous  floods,  but 
sent  also  a  terrible  sea-monster,  which  devoured  both  man 
and  beast.  The  oracle  of  Ammon  declared  that  the  land 
could  only  be  saved  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  king's  daughter, 
Andromeda,  to  the  monster.  Cepheus,  after  some  time, 
yielded  to  the  entreaties  of  his  people,  and  Andromeda  was 
chained  to  a  rock  close  to  the  sea.  In  this  situation  she 
was  found  by  Perseus,  on  his  return  from  his  adventure 
with  the  Gorgons.  He  forthwith  attacked  and  slew  the 
sea-monster,  and  released  the  trembling  maiden,  who  soon 
after  married  her  preserver.  Later  writers,  not  satisfied 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  221 

with  this  adventure,  added  that  Perseus  was  also  obliged 
to  vanquish  a  rival  in  Phineus,  the  king's  brother,  to  whom 
Andromeda  had  been  already  promised.  Phineus,  togeth- 
er with  his  warriors,  was  changed  into  stone  by  means  of 
the  Gorgon's  head. 

The  legend  concludes  with  the  return  of  the  hero  to 
Argos,  where  he  was  reconciled  to  his  grandfather  Acrisius, 
who  had  at  first  fled  in  terror  to  Larissa.  On  the  occasion, 
however,  of  some  games  which  the  people  of  Larissa  had 
instituted  in  his  honor,  Perseus  was  unfortunate  enough  to 
kill  Acrisius  with  his  discus,  thus  involuntarily  fulfilling 
the  prophecy  of  the  oracle.  In  this  feature  of  the  story 
we  recognize  an  unmistakable  reference  to  the  symbolic 
meaning  of  Perseus;  for  the  discus  here  represents,  as  in 
the  story  of  the  death  of  Hyacinthus,  the  face  of  the  sun. 
Perseus,  unwilling  to  enter  on  the  inheritance  of  the  grand- 
father he  had  slain,  exchanged  the  kingdom  of  Argos  for 
that  of  Tiryns,  which  was  handed  over  to  him  by  its  king, 
Megapenthcs,  the  son  of  Proetus.  He  here  founded  the 
cities  of  Midea  and  Mycenae,  and  became,  through  his  chil- 
dren by  Andromeda,  the  ancestor  of  many  heroes,  and, 
among  others,  of  Heracles.  His  son  Elcctryon  became 
the  father  of  Alcmene,  while  Amphitryon  was  descended 
from  another  of  his  sons.  According  to  Pausanias,  heroic 
honors  were  paid  to  Perseus,  not  only  throughout  Argos, 
but  also  in  Athens  and  the  island  of  Seriphus. 

Perseus  occupies  a  prominent  position  in  Greek  art.  His  common 
attributes  are  the  winged  sandals,  the  sickle  which  he  made  use  of  to 
slay  Medusa,  and  the  helmet  of  Hades.  In  bodily  form,  as  well  as  in 
costume,  he  appears  very  like  Hermes. 

Among  the  art  monuments  which  relate  to  his  adventures  is  a 
marble  relief  from  the  Villa  Pamfili,  now  in  the  Capitoline  Museum 
at  Rome,  depicting  the  rescue  of  Andromeda.  The  sea-monster  lies 


222         GREES  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

dead  at  the  feet  of  Perseus,  who  is  assisting  the  joyful  Andromeda  to 
descend  from  the  rock  The  attitude  and  expression  of  both  figures 
are  very  striking :  on  the  one  side,  maidenly  modesty ;  on  the  other, 
proud  self-reliance.  It  is  worth  remarking  that  Perseus,  in  addi- 


Fig.  56.— Perseus  and  A.idromeda.    Marble  Belief  in  the  Mnsenm  at  Naples. 


tion  to  his  winged  oboes,  has  also  wings  on  his  head.  The  sains 
conception  is  perceptible,  with  a  few  minor  points  of  difference, 
in  several  Pompeian  paintings,  and  on  a  marble  relief  of  the  Naples 
Museum  (Fig.  56).  B  gpresentations  of  Medusa  are  mostly  confined 
to  masks,  which  are  often  found  on  coats  of  mail,  shields,  leaves  of 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS. 


223 


folding-doors,  and  instruments  of  all  kinds.  There  are  two  types, 
representing  an  earlier  and  a  later  conception  of  Medusa.  Earlier 
art  set  itself  to  depict  the  horrible  only  in  the  head  of  Medusa ;  and 
artists,  therefore,  strove  to  impart  to  the  face  as  strong  an  expres- 
sion of  rage  and  ferocity  as  was  possible,  representing  her  with  tongue 
lolling  forth,  and  boar-like  tusks.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that,  in  the 
earlier  examples  of  these  masks — which  are  frequently  met  with  on 
coins,  gems,  and  pottery — the  hair  generally  falls  stiff  and  straight 
over  the  forehead,  serving  to  render  the  horrible  breadth  of  the  face 


Fig.  57.—  Kondauini  Mednsa.    Munich. 

still  more  striking,  while  the  snakes  appear  to  be  fastened  round 
the  neck  like  a  necklace.  Very  different  is  the  conception  adopted 
by  the  later  and  more  sensuous  school.  This  labored  principally  to 
jive  expression  to  the  gradual  ebbing-away  of  life  in  the  countenance 
of  the  dying  Gorgon,  an  effect  which  was  rendered  still  more  striking 
by  transforming  the  hideous  Gorgon  face  of  earlier  times  into  an  ideal 
of  the  most  perfect  beauty.  The  most  splendid  example  of  this  later 
conception,  which  had  been  creeping  in  since  the  age  of  Praxiteles, 
is  to  be  found  in  the  Medusa  Rondanini  of  the  Munich  collection  - 


224  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

a  marble  mask  of  most  beautiful  workmanship,  which  was  brought 
from  the  Rondanini  Palace  at  Rome  (Fig.  57).  This  Medusa,  like 
many  others  of  the  later  type,  has  wings  on  the  head. 

5.  The  Dioscuri. — On  passing  to  Laconia  and  Mes- 
senia,  the  southern  districts  of  the  Peloponnesus,  we  come 
in  contact  with  the  legend  of  the  Dioscuri.  Tyndareu? 
and  his  brother  Icarius  were  said  to  have  founded  the  most 
ancient  sovereignty  in  Lacedsemon.  They  were  driven 
thence,  however,  by  their  half-brother  Hippocoon,  and  were 
kindly  received  by  Thestius,  the  ruler  of  the  ancient  city 
of  Pleuron,  in  ^Etolia,  who  gave  Tyndareiis  his  daughter 
Leda  in  marriage.  Icarius  received  the  hand  of  Polycaste, 
who  bore  him  Penelope — afterward  the  wife  of  Odysseus ; 
while  Leda  was  the  mother  of  the  Dioscuri,  Castor  and 
Polydeuces  (Pollux).  Tyndareiis  was  afterward  reinstated 
in  his  Lacedaemonian  kingdom  at  Amyclaj  by  Heracles. 
Besides  these  two  sons,  Leda  had  also  two  daughters,  Cly- 
tsemnestra  and  Helene  (Helen),  who  are  celebrated  in  con- 
nection with  the  Trojan  war.  An  ancient  legend  also  ex- 
isted to  the  effect  that  Leda  had  been  beloved  by  Zeus, 
who  had  approached  her  under  the  disguise  of  a  swan. 
The  greatest  incongruity  prevails  as  to  which  of  the  chil- 
dren could  claim  a  divine  origin.  In  Homer,  Helen  alone 
is  represented  as  the  daughter  of  Zeus ;  while  Clytsemncs- 
tra,  together  with  Castor  and  Polydeuces,  appear  as  the  chil- 
dren of  Tyndareus.  At  a  subsequent  period,  the  name  of 
"  Dioscuri "  (sons  of  Zeus)  and  a  belief  in  their  divine  ori 
gin  arose  simultaneously.  Later  still,  Castor  was  repre- 
sented as  a  mortal,  and  the  son  of  Tyndareus ;  and  Poly- 
deuces as  immortal,  and  the  son  of  Zeus.  After  Castor, 
however,  had  fallen  in  the  contest  with  the  sons  of  Apha- 
reus,  his  brother  Polydeuces,  unwilling  to  part  from  him. 


PROVINCIAL   HEROIC    LEGENDS.  225 

prevailed  on  Zeus  to  allow  them  to  remain  together,  on 
condition  of  their  spending  one  day  in  Olympus  and  the 
next  in  Hades.  They  thus  led  a  life  divided  between  mor- 
tality and  immortality.  The  following  is .  an  account  of 
their  heroic  deeds :  On  attaining  manhood,  Castor  distin- 
guished himself  by  his  skill  in  the  management  of  horses ; 
while  Poly  deuces  became  renowned  as  a  skilful  boxer, 
though  he  too  had  skill  in  riding.  They  first  made  war 
on  Theseus,  who  had  carried  off  their  sister  Helen,  then 
ten  years  old,  and  set  her  free  by  the  conquest  of  Aphid- 
nae.  They  next  took  part  in  the  expedition  of  the  Argo- 
nauts, in  which  Polydeuces  gained  still  further  renown  by 
his  victory  with  the  cestus  over  the  celebrated  boxer  Amy- 
cus.  They  were  also  present  at  the  Calydonian  boar-hunt. 
Their  last  undertaking  was  the  rape  of  the  daughters  of 
Leucippus,  King  of  Messenia.  This  was  the  cause  of  their 
combat  with  their  cousins  Idas  and  Lynceus,  the  sons  of 
Aphareus,  to  whom  the  damsels  had  been  betrothed.  Ac- 
cording to  others,  however,  it  sprung  from  a  quarrel  as  to 
the  division  of  some  booty  that  they  had  carried  off  to- 
gether. Castor  was  slain  by  Idas,  whereupon  Polydeuces 
in  his  wrath  slew  Lynceus,  while  Idas  himself  was  over- 
whelmed by  a  thunder-bolt  from  Zeus. 

The  interpretation  of  this  myth  is  by  no  means  void  of 
difficulty.  It  is  commonly  supposed  that  they  were  an- 
cient Peloponnesian  divinities  of  light,  who,  after  the  Do- 
rian invasion,  were  degraded  to  the  rank  of  heroes.  They 
are  often  interpreted  as  personifications  of  the  morning 
and  evening  star,  or  of  the  twilight  (dawn  and  dusk).  This 
view  died  out  after  the  second  deification  that  they  under- 
went. They  were  venerated,  not  only  in  their  native  Spar- 
ta, but  throughout  the  whole  of  Greece,  as  kindly,  bcncfi- 

15 


226          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

cent  deities,  whose  aid  might  be  invoked  either  in  battle  or 
in  the  dangers  of  shipwreck.  In  this  latter  character  they 
are  lauded  by  an  Homeric  hymn,  in  which  they  are  repre- 
sented as  darting  through  the  air  on  their  golden  wings,  in 
order  to  calm  the  storm  at  the  prayer  of  the  terror-strick- 
en mariner.  It  has  often  been  remarked,  and  with  a  great 
appearance  of  truth,  that  these  Dioscuri  flitting  about  on 
their  golden  wings  are  probably  nothing  more  than  what 
is  commonly  called  St.  Elmo's  fire — an  electric  flame  which 
is  often  seen  playing  round  the  tops  of  the  masts  dur- 
ing a  storm,  and  which  is  regarded  by  the  sailors  as  a  sign 
of  its  speedy  abatement ;  indeed,  the  name  Elmo  has  been 
supposed  a  corruption  of  Helene.  In  Sparta,  the  Dioscuri 
were  regarded  as  the  tutelary  deities  of  the  State,  as  well  as 
an  example  of  warlike  valor  for  the  youth  of  the  country. 
Their  shrines  here  were  very  numerous.  Their  ancient 
symbol,  which  the  Spartans  always  took  with  them  on  a 
campaign,  consisted  of  two  parallel  beams  joined  by  cross- 
bars. They  had  other  festivals  and  temples  besides  those 
of  Sparta :  in  Mantinea,  for  instance,  where  an  eternal  fire 
was  kept  burning  in  their  honor;  also  in  Athens,  where 
they  were  venerated  under  the  appellation  of  Anaccs. 
Their  festival  was  here  celebrated  with  horse-racing.  The 
Olympic  games  also  stood  under  their  special  protection, 
and  their  images  were  set  up  in  all  the  pala3stra.  They 
were,  in  fact,  everywhere  regarded  as  extremely  benevolent 
and  sociable  deities,  who  foster  all  that  is  noble  and  beau- 
tiful among  men. 

The  Dioscuri  were  believed  to  have  assisted  the  Romans 
against  the  Latins  at  the  Lake  Regillus ;  and  the  dictator, 
A.  Postumius,  vowed  a  temple  to  them,  which  was  erected 
in  the  Forum,  opposite  the  temple  of  Vesta.  In  commem- 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  227 

oration  of  this  aid,  the  Equites  made  a  solemn  procession 
from  the  temple  of  Honos,  past  the  temple  of  the  Dioscuri, 
to  the  Capitol  every  year  on  the  Ides  of  July. 

In  art  the  Dioscuri  are  represented  as  heroic  youths  of  noble  mien 
and  slim  but  powerful  forms.  Their  characteristic  marks  are  coni- 
cal caps,  the  points  of  which  are  adorned  with  a  star.  They  gener- 
ally appear  nude,  or  clothed  only  with  a  light  chlamys,  and  nearly 
always  in  connection  with  their  horses,  either  riding,  standing  by 
and  holding  them,  or  leading  them  by  the  bridle.  The  most  cele- 
brated representation  of  the  Dioscuri  that  has  come  down  to  us  from 
antiquity  consists  of  the  marble  statues  called  the  Colossi  of  Monte 
Cavallo,  in  Rome.  These  are  eighteen  feet  in  height,  and  the  propor- 
tions of  the  figures,  together  with  those  of  the  horses,  are  exquisite. 
They  are  set  up  on  the  Quirinal,  which  has  received  from  them  the 
name  of  Monte  Cavallo.  They  are  not,  indeed,  original  works,  but 
are  probably  imitations  of  bronzes  of  the  most  nourishing  period  of 
Greek  art,  executed  in  the  time  of  Augustus. 

6.  Heracles  (Hercules).  —  Of  all  the  myths  of  the 
countries  originally  inhabited  by  the  ^Eolians,  the  myth  of 
Heracles  is  the  most  glorious.  This  hero,  though  his  fame 
was  chiefly  disseminated  by  means  of  the  Dorians,  was  yet 
by  birth  the  common  property  of  the  ^Eolian  race — their 
national  hero,  in  fact,  just  as  he  afterward  became  the  na- 
tional hero  of  the  whole  of  Greece.  No  other  Greek  myth 
has  received  so  many  subsequent  additions — not  only  from 
native,  but  also  from  foreign  sources  —  as  this;  which  is, 
in  consequence,  the  most  extensive  and  complicated  of  all 
Greek  myths.  We  shall,  therefore,  have  to  confine  our- 
selves to  the  consideration  of  its  most  characteristic  feat- 
ures, and  those  which  are  the  most  important  in  the  his- 
tory of  art. 

In  Homer,  who  is  here  again  our  most  ancient  authority, 
the  leading  features  of  the  myth  are  traced — the  enmity  of 
Hera  towards  the  hero ;  his  period  of  subjection  to  Eurys- 


228  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

theus,  and  the  labors  by  which  he  emancipated  himself 
(though  special  mention  is  made  only  of  his  seizure  of  Cer- 
berus) ;  his  expeditions  against  Pylus,  Ephyra,  (Echaha, 
and  Troy.  The  verses  in  the  "  Odyssey  "  (xi.  602-4),  which 
refer  to  his  deification  and  subsequent  marriage  with  Hebe, 
are  probably  a  later  insertion.  In  the  "  Iliad,"  Heracles  is 
spoken  of  as  a  great  hero  of  olden  time,  "  whom  the  Fates 
and  the  grievous  wrath  of  Hera  subdued."  In  Homer,  too, 
he  appears  as  a  purely  Grecian  hero,  his  warlike  undertak- 
ings having  never  yet  led  him  beyond  Troy,  and  his  ar- 
mor differing  in  no  respect  from  that  of  other  heroes.  The 
description  of  him  in  Hesiod's  "  Theogony "  and  in  the 
"  Shield  of  Heracles "  is  somewhat  more  minute,  but  it  is 
otherwise  essentially  the  same.  From  what  source  the  de- 
ification of  Heracles  sprung — whether  it  was  due  to  Phoe- 
nician influences  or  not — has  hitherto  remained  an  unde- 
termined question ;  we  only  know  that  it  appears  as  an  ac- 
complished fact  about  700  B.C. 

I.  THE  BIRTH  AND  YOUTH  OF  HERACLES. — This  portion 
of  the  legend  found  its  chief  development  in  Bceotia.  Am- 
phitryon, a  son  of  Alca3iis  and  grandson  of  Perseus,  was 
compelled  to  flee  from  Tiryns  with  his  betrothed,  Alcmene 
— likewise  a  descendant  of  Perseus  by  her  father,  Electry- 
on — on  account  of  a  murder,  and  found  an  asylum  at  the 
court  of  Creon,  King  of  Thebes.  From  this  place  he  un- 
dertook an  expedition  against  the  robber  tribes  of  the  Tel- 
eboae  (Taphians),  in  consequence  of  a  promise  made  to  Alc- 
mene,  whose  brother  they  had  slain.  After  the  successful 
termination  of  this  expedition,  the  marriage  was  to  have 
been  celebrated  at  Thebes.  But  in  the  mean  while  the 
great  ruler  of  Olympus  himself  had  been  smitten  with  the 
charms  of  Alcmene,  and,  taking  the  form  of  the  absent 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  229 

Amphitryon,  had  left  her  pregnant  with  Heracles,  to  whom 
she  afterward  gave  birth  at  the  same  time  with  Iphicles, 
the  son  of  Amphitryon.  The  sovereignty  over  all  the  de- 
scendants of  Perseus,  which  Zeus  had  destined  for  Hera- 
cles, was  snatched  from  him  by  the  crafty  jealousy  of  Hera, 
who  prolonged  the  pains  of  Alcmene  and  hastened  the  de- 
livery of  the  wife  of  Sthenelus,  the  uncle  of  Amphitryon, 
by  two  months.  Not  content  with  having  subjected  the 
hero  to  the  will  of  the  weak  and  cowardly  Eurystheus, 
Hera,  according  to  a  subsequent  account  of  the  poets,  sent 
two  serpents  to  kill  the  child  when  he  was  about  eight 
months  old.  Heracles,  however,  gave  the  first  proof  of  his 
divine  origin  by  strangling  the  serpents  with  his  hands. 
An  account  of  this  scene  has  descended  to  us  in  a  beauti- 
ful poem  of  Pindar.  In  Thebes,  the  boy  grew  up,  and  was 
put  under  the  care  of  the  best  preceptors.  But,  though 
he  excelled  in  every  feat  of  strength  and  valor,  he  made  no 
progress  in  musical  arts,  and  even  slew  his  master  Linus  on 
Account  of  a  somewhat  harsh  reproof  which  his  inaptitude 
entailed  on  him.  As  a  punishment,  Amphitryon  sent  him 
to  Mount  Cithaeron  to  mind  the  flocks,  a  mode  of  life 
which  Heracles  continued  until  he  had  completed  his  eight- 
eenth year.  It  was  to  this  period  that  the  sophist  Prodi- 
cus,  a  contemporary  of  Socrates,  referred  his  beautiful  alle- 
gory of  the  Choice  of  Heracles.  After  attaining  his  full 
growth  (according  to  Apollodorus  he  was  four  cubits  in 
height)  and  strength,  the  young  hero  performed  his  first 
great  feat  by  killing  the  lion  of  Cithaeron.  Whether  it 
was  this  skin  or  that  of  the  Nemean  lion  which  he  after- 
ward used  as  a  garment,  is  not  certain.  His  next  act  was 
to  free  the  Thebans  from  the  ignominious  tribute  which 
they  were  compelled  to  pay  to  Eriginus,  King  of  Orchome- 


230          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

nus,  by  a  successful  expedition,  in  which  Amphitryon,  how- 
ever, lost  his  life.  Creon,  the  King  of  Thebes,  in  gratitude 
gave  the  hero  his  daughter  Megara  in  marriage,  while  Iph- 
icles  married  her  sister. 

II.  HERACLES  IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  EURYSTHEUS — THE 
TWELVE  LABORS. — We  now  come  to  the  second  epoch  in 
the  life  of  the  hero,  in  which  he  performed  various  labors 
at  the  bidding  of  Eurystheus,  King  of  Mycenae  or  Tiryns. 
The  number  of  these  was  first  fixed  at  twelve  in  the  Alex- 
andrian age,  when  Heracles  was  identified  with  the  Phoeni- 
cian sun-god,  Baal ;  probably  from  the  analogy  afforded  in 
the  course  of  the  sun  through  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zo- 
diac. The  subjection  of  Heracles  to  his  unmanly  cousin 
Eurystheus  is  generally  represented  as  a  consequence  of 
the  stratagem  by  which  Hera  obtained  for  the  latter  the 
sovereignty  over  all  the  descendants  of  Perseus.  At  a 
later  period  Heracles  was  said  to  have  become  insane,  in 
consequence  of  the  summons  of  Eurystheus  to  do  his  bid- 
ding. The  following  is  an  account  of  the  labors  of  Her- 
acles : 

1.  The  Fight  with  the  Nemean  Lion.  —  The  district  of 
Nemea  and  Cleonse  was  inhabited  by  a  monstrous  lion,  the 
offspring  of  Typhon  and  Echidna,  whose  skin  bade  defi- 
ance to  every  weapon.     Heracles,  after  using  his  arrows 
and  club  against  the  animal  in  vain,  at  last  drove  it  into  a 
cave,  and  there  strangled  it  with  his  hands.     He  afterward 
used  the  head  of  the  lion  as  a  helmet,  and  the  impenetra- 
ble skin  as  a  defence. 

2.  The  Lernoean  Hydra.  —  This  was  a  great  water -ser- 
pent, likewise  the  offspring  of  Typhon  and  Echidna.     The 
number  of  its  heads  varies  in  the  accounts  of  poets,  though 
ancient  gems  usually  represent  it  with  seven.     It  ravaged 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  231 

the  country  of  Lerna,  in  Argolis,  destroying  both  men  and 
beasts.  In  this  adventure  Heracles  was  accompanied  by 
lolaus,  the  son  of  his  brother  Iphicles,  who,  on  this  as  on 
other  occasions,  appears  as  his  faithful  companion.  After 
driving  the  monster  from  its  lair  by  means  of  his  arrows, 
he  advanced  fearlessly,  and,  seizing  it  in  his  hands,  began 
to  strike  off  its  heads  with  his  sword.  To  his  amazement, 
in  the  place  of  each  head  he  struck  off  two  sprung  up. 
He  then  ordered  lolaus  to  set  on  fire  a  neighboring  wood, 
and  with  the  firebrands  seared  the  throats  of  the  serpent, 
until  he  at  length  succeeded  in  slaying  it.  He  then  dip- 
ped his  arrows  in  its  gall,  thus  rendering  the  wounds  in- 
flicted by  them  incurable. 

3.  The  Erymanthian  Boar. — This  animal  inhabited  the 
mountain  district  of  Erymanthus,  in  Arcadia,  from  which 
place  it  wasted  the  cornfields  of  Psophis.  Heracles  drove 
the  boar  up  to  the  snow-covered  summit  of  the  mountain, 
and  then  caught  it  alive,  as  Eurystheus  had  commanded 
him.  When  he  arrived  at  Mycenae  with  the  terrible  beast 
on  his  back,  Eurystheus  was  so  terrified  that  he  hid  him- 
self in  a  vessel.  This  comic  scene  is  frequently  depicted 
on  vases.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Heracles  destroyed 
the  Centaurs.  On  the  road,  the  hero,  hungry  and  thirsty, 
was  hospitably  received  by  the  friendly  Centaur  Pholus, 
who  holds  the  same  place  among  the  Arcadian  Centaurs 
as  Chiron  does  among  those  of  Thessaly.  Pholus  broach- 
ed, in  honor  of  his  guest,  a  cask  of  wine  lying  in  his  cave, 
which  was  the  common  property  of  all  the  Centaurs.  The 
fragrance  of  the  wine  attracted  the  other  Centaurs  living  on 
Mount  Pholoe,  and  they  immediately  attacked  the  tippling 
hero  with  pieces  of  rock  and  trunks  of  trees.  Heracles, 
however,  drove  them  back  with  arrows  and  firebrands,  and 


232  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

completely  vanquished  them  after  a  terrible  fight.  On  re- 
turning to  the  cave  of  Pholus,  he  found  his  friend  dead. 
He  had  drawn  an  arrow  out  of  a  dead  body  to  examine  it, 
but  accidentally  let  it  fall  on  his  foot,  from  the  wound  of 
which  he  died. 

4.  The  Hind  of  Cerynea. — This  animal,  which  was  sa 
cred  to  the  Arcadian  Artemis,  had  golden  horns  and  brazen 
hoofs,  the  latter  being  a  symbol  of  its  untiring  fleetness. 
Heracles  was  commanded  to  bring  it  alive  to  Mycenae,  and 
for  a  whole  year  he  continued  to  pursue  it  over  hill  and 
dale  with  untiring  energy.     At  length  it  returned  to  Arca- 
dia, where  he  succeeded  in  capturing  it  on  the  banks  of  the 
Ladon,  and  bore  it  in  triumph  to  Mycenae. 

5.  The    Stymphalian  Birds.  —  These  voracious   birds, 
which  fed  on  human  flesh,  had  brazen  claws,  wings,  and 
beaks,  and  were  able  to  shoot  out  their  feathers  like  ar- 
rows.    They  inhabited  the  district  round  Lake  Stymphalis, 
in  Arcadia.     Heracles  slew  some,  and  so  terrified  the  rest 
by  means  of  his  brazen  rattle  that  they  never  returned. 
This  latter  circumstance  is  apparently  an  addition  of  later 
times,  to  explain  their  reappearance  in  the  history  of  the 
Argonauts. 

6.  Cleansing  of  the  Stables  of  Augeas. — The  sixth  task 
of  Heracles  was  to  cleanse  in  one  day  the  stables  of  Au- 
geas, King  of  Elis,  whose  wealth  in  cattle  had  become  pro- 
verbial.     Heracles  repaired  to  Elis,  where  he  offered  to 
cleanse  the  stables,  in  which  were  three  thousand  oxen,  if 
the  king  would  consent  to  give  him  a  tenth  part  of  the 
cattle.    Augeas  agreed  to  do  so.     Heracles  then  turned  the 
course  of  the  Peneus  or  the  Alpheus,  or,  according  to  some, 
of  both  rivers,  through  the  stalls,  and  thus  carried  off  the 
filth.     Augeas,  however,  on  learning  that  Heracles  had  un« 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  233 

dertaken  the  labor  at  the  command  of  Eurystheus,  refused 
to  give  him  the  stipulated  reward  —  a  breach  of  faith  for 
which  Heracles,  later,  took  terrible  vengeance  on  the  king. 

7.  The  Cretan  Bull. — In  the  history  of  Minos,  King  of 
Crete,  we  find. that  Poseidon  once  sent  up  a  bull  out  of  the 
sea  for  Minos  to  sacrifice,  but  that  Minos  was  induced  by 
the  beauty  of  the  animal  to  place  it  among  his  own  herds, 
and  sacrificed  another  in  its  stead ;  whereupon  Poseidon 
drove  the  bull  mad.     The  seventh  labor  of  Heracles  con- 
sisted in  capturing  this  bull  and  bringing  it  to  Mycenae. 
It  was  afterward  set  free  by  Eurystheus,  and  appears  later, 
in  the  story  of  Theseus,  as  the  bull  of  Marathon. 

8.  The  Mares  of  Diomedes. — Diomedes  was  king  of  the 
Bistones,  a  warlike  tribe  of  Thrace.     He  inhumanly  caused 
all  strangers  cast  upon  his  coasts  to  be  given  to  his  wild 
mares,  who  fed  on  human  flesh.      To  bind  these  horses 
and  bring  them  alive  to  Mycenae  was  the  next  task  of  Her- 
acles.     This,  too,  he  successfully  accomplished,  after  in- 
flicting on  Diomedes  the  same  fate  to  which  he  had  con- 
demned so  many  others. 

9.  The  Girdle  of  Hippolyte. — Admete,  the  daughter  of 
Eurystheus,  was  anxious  to  obtain  the  girdle  which  the 
queen  of  the  Amazons  had  received  from  Ares ;  and  Hera- 
cles was  accordingly  despatched  to  fetch  it.     After  various 
adventures  he  landed  in  Themiscyra,  and  was  at  first  kind- 
ly received  by  Hippolyte,  who  was  willing  to  give  him  the 
girdle.     But  Hera,  in  the  guise  of  an  Amazon,  spread  a  re- 
port that  Heracles  was  about  to  carry  off  the  queen,  upon 
which  the  Amazons  attacked  Heracles  and  his  followers. 
In  the  battle  which  ensued  Hippolyte  was  killed,  and  the 
hero,  after  securing  the  girdle,  departed.     On  his  journey 
homeward  occurred  his  celebrated  adventure  with  Hesione, 


234  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGT. 

the  daughter  of  Laomedon,  King  of  Troy.  This  king  had 
refused  Poseidon  and  Apollo  the  rewards  he  had  promised 
them  for  their  assistance  in  building  the  walls  of  Troy.  In 
consequence  of  his  perfidy,  Apollo  visited  the  country  with 
a  pestilence,  and  Poseidon  sent  a  sea-monster  which  devas- 
tated the  land  far  and  wide.  By  the  advice  of  the  oracle, 
Hesione,  the  king's  daughter,  was  exposed  to  be  devoured 
by  the  animal.  Heracles  offered  to  destroy  the  monster,  if 
Laomedon  would  give  him  the  horses  which  his  father  Tros 
had  received  as  a  compensation  for  the  loss  of  Ganymedes. 
Laomedon  agreed,  and  Heracles  then  slew  the  monster. 
Laomedon,  however,  again  proved  false  to  his  word,  and 
Heracles,  with  a  threat  of  future  vengeance,  departed. 

10.  The  Oxen  of  Geryones. — The  next  task  of  Heracles 
was  to  fetch  the  cattle  of  the  three -headed  winged  giant 
Geryones,  or  Geryoneus  (Geryon).  This  monster  w^as  the 
offspring  of  Chrysaor  (red  slayer)  and  Callirrhoe  (fair-flow- 
ing), an  Oceanid,  and  inhabited  the  island  of  Erythia,  in 
the  far  west,  in  the  region  of  the  setting  sun,  where  he 
had  a  herd  of  the  finest  and  fattest  cattle.  It  was  only 
natural  that  Heracles,  in  the  course  of  his  long  journey  to 
Erythia  and  back,  should  meet  with  numerous  adventures ; 
and  this  expedition  has,  accordingly,  been  more  richly  em 
bellished  than  any  other  by  the  imagination  of  the  poets. 
He  is  generally  supposed  to  have  passed  through  Libya, 
and  to  have  sailed  thence  to  Erythia  in  a  golden  boat, 
which  he  forced  Helios  (the  sun)  to  lend  him  by  shooting 
at  him  with  his  arrows.  Having  arrived  in  Erythia,  he 
first  slew  the  herdsman  who  was  minding  the  oxen,  togeth- 
er with  his  dog.  He  was  then  proceeding  to  drive  off  the 
cattle,  when  he  was  overtaken  by  Geryon.  A  violent  con- 
test ensued,  in  which  the  three -headed  monster  was  at 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  235 

length  vanquished  by  the  arrows  of  the  mighty  hero.  Her- 
acles is  then  supposed  to  have  recrossed  the  ocean  in  the 
boat  of  the  sun,  and,  starting  from  Tartessus,  to  have  jour- 
neyed on  foot  through  Iberia,  Gaul,  and  Italy.  We  pass 
over  his  contests  with  the  Celts  and  Ligurians,  and  only 
notice  briefly  his  victory  over  the  giant  Cacus,  mentioned 
by  Livy,  which  took  place  in  the  district  where  Rome  was 
afterward  built,  because  Roman  legend  connected  with  this 
the  introduction  of  the  worship  of  Hercules  into  Italy.  At 
length,  after  many  adventures,  he  arrived  at  Mycenae,  where 
Eurystheus  sacrificed  the  oxen  to  the  Argive  goddess  Hera. 

Heracles  has  now  completed  ten  of  his  labors,  but  Eu- 
rystheus, as  Apollodorus  relates,  refused  to  admit  the  de- 
struction of  the  Lernaean  Hydra,  because  on  that  occasion 
Heracles  had  availed  himself  of  the  help  of  lolaiis ;  or  the 
cleansing  of  the  stables  of  Augeas,  because  of  the  reward 
for  which  he  had  stipulated ;  so  that  the  hero  was  com- 
pelled to  undertake  two  more.  This  account  does  not, 
however,  harmonize  with  the  tradition  of  the  response  of 
the  oracle,  in  deference  to  which  Heracles  surrendered  him- 
self to  servitude,  and  which  offered  the  prospect  of  twelve 
labors  from  the  first. 

11.  The  Apples  of  the  Hesperides. — This  adventure  has 
been  even  more  embellished  with  later  and  foreign  addi- 
tions than  the  last.  The  golden  apples,  which  were  under 
the  guardianship  of  the  Hesperides,  or  nymphs  of  the  west, 
constituted  the  marriage  present  which  Hera  had  received 
from  Ga3a  on  the  occasion  of  her  marriage  with  Zeus. 
They  were  closely  guarded  by  the  terrible  dragon  Ladon, 
who,  like  all  monsters,  was  the  offspring  of  Typhon  and 
Echidna.  This,  however,  was  far  less  embarrassing  to  the 
hero  than  his  total  ignorance  of  the  site  of  the  garden  of 


236          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

the  Hesperides,  which  led  him  to  make  several  fruitless 
efforts  before  he  succeeded  in  reaching  the  desired  spot. 

His  first  object  was  to  gain  information  as  to  the  situa- 
tion of  the  garden,  and  for  this  purpose  he  journeyed 
through  Illyria  to  the  Eridanus  (Po),  in  order  to  inquire 
the  way  of  the  nymphs  who  dwelt  on  this  river.  By  them 
he  was  referred  to  the  treacherous  sage  Nereus,  whom  he 
managed  to  seize  while  asleep,  and  refused  to  release  until 
he  had  obtained  the  desired  information.  Heracles  then 
proceeded  by  way  of  Tartessus  to  Libya,  where  he  was  chal- 
lenged to  a  wrestling  match  by  the  giant  Antaeus,  a  pow- 
erful son  of  Earth,  who  was,  according  to  Libyan  tradition, 
of  a  monstrous  height  (some  say  sixty  cubits).  He  was 
attacked  by  Heracles,  but,  as  he  received  new  strength 
from  his  mother  Earth  as  often  as  he  touched  the  ground, 
the  hero  lifted  him  up  in  the  air  and  squeezed  him  to 
death  in  his  arms. 

From  Libya  Heracles  passed  into  Egypt,  where  the  cruel 
King  Busiris  was  in  the  habit  of  seizing  all  strangers  who 
entered  the  country  and  sacrificing  them  to  Zeus.  Hera- 
cles would  have  suffered  a  similar  fate,  had  he  not  broken 
the  chains  laid  upon  him,  and  slain  the  king  and  his  son. 
His  indulgence  at  the  richly  furnished  table  of  the  king 
was  a  feature  in  the  story  which  afforded  no  small  amuse- 
ment to  the  comic  writers,  who  were  especially  fond  of 
jesting  on  the  subject  of  the  healthy  and  heroic  appetite 
of  Heracles.  From  Egypt  the  hero  made  his  way  into 
^Ethiopia,  where  he  slew  Emathion,  the  son  of  Tithonus 
and  Eos,  for  his  cruelty  to  strangers.  He  next  crossed  the 
sea  to  India,  and  thence  came  to  the  Caucasus,  where  he 
set  Prometheus  free,  and  destroyed  the  vulture  that  preyed 
on  his  liver.  After  Prometheus  had  described  to  him  the 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  237 

long  road  to  the  Hesperides,  lie  passed  through  Scythia, 
and  came  at  length  to  the  land  of  the  Hyperboreans,  where 
Atlas  bore  the  pillars  of  heaven  on  his  shoulders.  This 
was  the  end  of  his  journey,  for  Atlas,  at  his  request,  fetched 
the  apples,  while  Heracles  supported  the  heavens.  Here 
again  the  comic  poets  introduced  an  amusing  scene.  At- 
las, having  once  tasted  the  delights  of  freedom,  betrayed 
no  anxiety  to  relieve  his  substitute,  but  offered,  instead,  to 
bear  the  apples  himself  to  Eurystheus.  Heracles,  however, 
proved  even  more  cunning  than  he,  for,  apparently  agree- 
ing to  the  proposition,  he  asked  Atlas  just  to  relieve  him 
until  he  had  arranged  more  comfortably  a  cushion  for  his 
back.  When  Atlas  good-humoredly  consented,  Heracles 
of  course  left  him  in  his  former  position,  and  made  off 
with  the  apples.  Another  account  states  that  he  descend- 
ed himself  into  the  garden,  and  slew  the  hundred -headed 
dragon  who  kept  guard  over  the  trees. 

12.  Cerberus. — The  most  daring  of  all  the  feats  of  Her- 
acles, and  that  which  bears  the  palm  from  all  the  others, 
and  is,  in  consequence,  always  put  at  the  end  of  his  labors, 
was  the  bringing  of  Cerberus  from  the  lower  world.  In 
this  undertaking,  which  is  mentioned  even  by  Homer,  he 
was  accompanied  by  Hermes  and  Athene,  though  he  had 
hitherto  been  able  to  dispense  with  divine  aid.  He  is  com- 
monly reported  to  have  made  his  descent  into  the  lower 
world  at  Cape  Ta3narum,  in  Laconia.  Close  to  the  gates 
of  Hades  he  found  the  adventurous  heroes  Theseus  and 
Pirithoiis,  who  had  gone  down  to  carry  off  Persephone, 
fastened  to  a  rock.  He  succeeded  in  setting  Theseus  free, 
but  Pirithous  he  was  obliged  to  leave  behind  him,  be- 
cause of  the  violent  earthquake  which  occurred  when  he 
attempted  to  touch  him.  After  several  further  adventures, 


238          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

he  entered  the  presence  of  the  lord  of  the  lower  world. 
Hades  consented  to  his  taking  Cerberus,  on  condition  that 
he  should  master  him  without  using  any  weapons.  Hera- 
cles seized  the  furious  beast,  and,  having  chained  him,  he 
brought  him  to  Eurystheus,  and  afterward  carried  him  back 
to  his  place  in  the  lower  world.  The  completion  of  this 
task  released  Heracles  from  his  servitude  to  Eurystheus. 

III.  DEEDS  OF  HERACLES  AFTER  HIS  SERVICE. — 1.  The 
Murder  of  Iphitus,  and  Contest  with  Apollo. — The  hero, 
after  his  release  from  servitude,  returned  to  Thebes,  where 
he  gave  his  wife  Megara  in  marriage  to  lolaiis.  He  then 
proceeded  to  the  court  of  Eurytus,  King  of  (Echalia,  who 
had  promised  his  beautiful  daughter  lole  in  marriage  to  the 
man  who  should  vanquish  himself  and  his  sons  in  shoot- 
ing with  the  bow.  The  situation  of  (Echalia  is  variously 
given ;  sometimes  it  is  placed  in  Thessaly,  sometimes  in 
the  Peloponnesus,  on  the  borders  of  Arcadia  and  Messenia, 
and  sometimes  in  the  island  of  Euboea,  close  to  Eretria. 
Heracles  gained  a  most  complete  victory ;  but  Eurytus, 
nevertheless,  refused  to  give  him  his  daughter,  reproaching 
him  with  the  murder  of  his  children  by  Megara,  and  with 
his  ignominious  bondage  to  Eurystheus.  Heracles,  with 
many  threats  of  future  vengeance,  withdrew,  and  when, 
not  long  afterward,  Iphitus,  the  son  of  Eurytus,  fell  into 
his  hands,  he  cast  him  from  the  highest  tower  of  his  cita- 
del in  Tiryns.  This  somewhat  treacherous  action  being  at 
variance  with  the  general  character  of  the  hero,  the  story 
subsequently  arose  that  Iphitus  was  a  friend  of  Heracles, 
and  had  advocated  his  cause  with  Eurytus,  and  that  Hera- 
cles only  treated  him  thus  in  a  fit  of  insanity.  The  bloody 
deed  was  fraught  with  the  gravest  consequences.  After 
seeking  purification  and  absolution  in  vain  among  men, 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEG-ENDS.  239 

Heracles  came  to  Delphi,  in  order  to  seek  the  aid  and  con- 
solation of  the  oracle.  But  Apollo,  with  whom  the  royal 
family  of  OEchalia  stood  in  high  favor,  rejected  him  ;  where- 
upon Heracles  forced  his  way  into  the  temple,  and  was  al- 
ready in  the  act  of  bearing  away  the  holy  tripod,  in  order 
to  erect  an  oracle  of  his  own,  when  he  was  confronted  by 
the  angry  deity.  A  fearful  combat  would  doubtless  have 
ensued,  if  the  father  of  gods  and  men  himself  had  not  in- 
terfered to  prevent  this  unnatural  strife  between  his  favor- 
ite sons  by  separating  the  combatants  with  his  lightning. 
Heracles  was  now  commanded  by  the  Pythian  priestess  to 
allow  himself  to  be  sold  by  Hermes  into  slavery  for  three 
years,  to  expiate  the  murder  of  Iphitus. 

2.  Heracles  in  the  Service  of  Omphale. — This  portion  of 
the  story  is  of  Lydian  origin,  but  was  cleverly  interwoven 
with  the  Greek  legend.     The  Lydians,  in  fact,  honored  a 
sun-hero  called  Sandon,  who  resembled  Heracles  in  many 
respects,  as  the  ancestor  of  their  kings.     The  Oriental  char- 
acter of  the  Lydian  Heracles  at  once  manifests  itself  in  the 
fact  that  he  here  appears  as  entirely  devoted  to  sensual 
pleasures,  becoming  effeminate  in  the  society  of  women, 
and  allowing  himself  to  be  clothed  in  female  attire,  while 
his  mistress  Omphale  donned  his  lion-skin  and  club,  and 
flaunted  up  and  down  before  him.      He  did  not  always 
linger  in  such  inactivity,  however ;  sometimes  the  old  de- 
sire for  action  urged  him  forth  to  gallant  deeds.     Thus  he 
vanquished  and  chastised  the  Cercopes,  a  race  of  goblins 
who  used  to  trick  and  waylay  travellers.      He  also  slew 
Syleus,  who  compelled  all  passing  travellers  to  dig  in  his 
vineyard ;  which  formed  the  subject  of  a  satyric  drama  of 
Euripides. 

3.  His  Expedition  against  Troy. — After  performing  sev- 


240          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

eral  other  feats  in  the  service  of  Omphale,  Heracles  again 
became  free.  He  now  appears  to  have  undertaken  an  ex- 
pedition against  the  faithless  Laomedon,  King  of  Troy,  in 
company  with  other  Greek  heroes,  such  as  Peleus,  Tela- 
mon,  and  O'icles,  whose  number  increased  as  time  went  on. 
The  city  was  taken  by  storm :  O'icles,  indeed,  was  slain, 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  Laomedon  and  all  his  sons  except 
Podarces  fell  before  the  arrows  of  Heracles.  Hesione,  the 
daughter  of  the  king,  was  given  by  Heracles  to  his  friend 
Telamon,  and  became  by  him  the  mother  of  Teucer.  She 
received  permission  from  Heracles  to  release  one  of  the 
prisoners,  and  chose  her  brother  Podarces,  who  afterward 
bore  the  name  of  Priamus  (the  redeemed),  and  continued 
the  race  of  Dardanus  in  Ilium. 

4.  The  Peloponnesian  Expeditions  of  Heracles. — The  le- 
gend relates  that  the  hero  now  undertook  his  long-deferred 
expedition  against  Augeas,  which  was  the  means  of  kin- 
dling a  Messenian  and  Lacedaemonian  war.  After  assem- 
bling an  army  in  Arcadia,  which  was  joined  by  many  gal- 
lant Greek  heroes,  he  advanced  against  Elis.  Heracles, 
however,  fell  sick ;  and  in  his  absence  his  army  was  at- 
tacked and  driven  back  with  great  loss  by  the  brave  Ac- 
toridse  or  Molionidae,  the  nephews  of  Augeas.  It  was  only 
after  Heracles  had  slain  these  heroes  in  an  ambuscade  at 
Cleonae,  as  they  were  on  their  way  to  the  Isthmian  games, 
that  he  succeeded  in  penetrating  into  Elis.  He  then  slew 
Augeas,  and  gave  the  kingdom  to  his  son  Phyleus,  with 
whom  he  was  on  friendly  terms.  It  was  on  this  occasion 
that  he  instituted  the  Olympic  games.  He  then  marched 
agair.st  Pylus,  either  because  its  king,  Neleus,  had  given 
assistance  to  the  Molionidae,  or  else  because  Neleus  had 
refused  to  purify  him  from  the  murder  of  Iphitus.  This 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  241 

expedition  against  Pylus  was  subsequently  greatly  embel- 
lished by  the  poets,  who  made  it  into  a  great  battle  of  tho 
gods,  one  part  of  whom  fought  for  Neleus,  and  the  other 
part  for  Heracles.  The  chief  feature  was  the  combat  be- 
tween Heracles  and  Periclymenus,  the  bravest  of  the  sons 
of  Neleus,  who  had  received  from  Poseidon,  the  tutelary 
deity  of  the  Pylians,  the  power  of  transforming  himself 
into  any  kind  of  animal.  The  result  of  the  combat  was, 
of  course,  a  complete  victory  for  Heracles.  Neleus,  with 
his  eleven  gallant  sons,  was  slain,  and  only  the  youngest, 
Nestor,  remained  to  perpetuate  the  celebrated  race.  The 
Lacedaemonian  expedition  of  Heracles,  which  follows  close 
on  that  against  Pylus,  was  undertaken  against  Hippocoon, 
the  half-brother  of  Tyndareiis,  whom  he  had  expelled. 
Hippocoon  was  defeated  and  slain  by  Heracles,  who  gave 
his  kingdom  to  Tyndareiis.  On  this  occasion  Heracles  was 
assisted  by  Cepheus,  King  of  Tegea,  with  his  twenty  sons, 
a  circumstance  which  is  only  mentioned  on  account  of  a 
remarkable  legend  connected  with  his  stay  in  Tegea.  Her- 
acles is  here  said  to  have  left  Auge,  the  beautiful  sister  of 
Cepheus,  and  priestess  of  Athene,  pregnant  with  Telephus, 
whose  wondrous  adventures  have  occupied  artists  and  poets 
alike.  Auge  concealed  her  child  in  the  grove  of  Athene, 
whereupon  the  angry  goddess  visited  the  land  with  a  fam- 
ine. Aleiis,  the  father  of  Auge,  on  discovering  the  fact, 
caused  the  child  to  be  exposed,  and  sold  the  mother  be- 
yond the  sea.  Auge  thus  came  into  Mysia,  where  the  king, 
Tenth ras,  made  her  his  wife.  Telephus  was  suckled  by  a 
hind.  He  grew  up,  and  ultimately,  after  some  wonderful 
adventures,  succeeded  in  finding  his  mother.  He  succeed- 
ed Teuthras,  and,  later,  became  embroiled  with  the  Greeks 
when  they  landed  on  their  expedition  against  Troy,  on 

16 


242  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

which,  occasion  he  was  wounded  by  Achilles.  Telepbus, 
among  all  the  sons  of  Heracles,  is  said  to  have  borne  the 
greatest  resemblance  to  his  father. 

5.  Achelous,  Nessus,  Cycnus. —  The  next  episode  in  the 
history  of  the  hero  is  his  wooing  of  Deianira,  the  daughter 
of  (Eneus,  King  of  ^Etolia.  (Eneus  is  celebrated  as  the  first 
cultivator  of  the  vine  in  that  country,  and  as  the  father  of 
the  .lEtolian  heroes,  Meleager  and  Tydeus.  The  river-god 
Acheloiis  was  also  a  suitor  for  the  hand  of  Deianira,  and 
as  neither  he  nor  Heracles  would  relinquish  their  claim,  it 
was  decided  by  the  combat  between  the  rivals*  so  often 
described  by  the  poets.  The  power  of  assuming  various 
forms  was  of  little  use  to  Acheloiis,  for,  having  finally  trans- 
formed himself  into  a  bull,  he  was  deprived  of  a  horn  by 
Heracles,  and  compelled  to  declare  himself  vanquished. 
Heracles  restored  him  his  horn,  and  received  in  exchange 
that  of  the  goat  Amalthea.  After  his  marriage  with  Dei- 
anira, Heracles  lived  for  some  time  happily  at  the  court  of 
his  father-in-law,  where  his  son  Hyllus  was  born.  In  con- 
sequence of  an  accidental  murder,  he  was  obliged  to  leave 
^Etolia  and  retire  to  the  court  of  his  friend  Ceyx,  King  of 
Trachis,  at  the  foot  of  Mount  (Eta.  On  the  road  occurred 
his  celebrated  adventure  with  the  Centaur  Nessus.  On 
coming  to  the  river  Evenus,  Heracles  intrusted  Deianira  to 
Nessus  to  carry  across,  while  he  himself  waded  through  the 
swollen  stream.  The  Centaur,  induced  by  the  beauty  of 
his  burden,  attempted  to  carry  off  Deianira,  but  was  pierced 
by  an  arrow  of  Heracles,  and  expiated  his  attempt  with  his 
life.  He  avenged  himself  by  giving  Deianira  some  of  his 


*  The  most  beautiful  description  exists  in  a  chorus  in  the  "  Trachi- 
niae  "  of  Sophocles,  and  in  Ovid's  "  Metamorphoses." 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  243 

blood  to  make  a  magic  salve,  with  which  he  assured  her 
she  could  always  secure  the  love  of  her  husband. 

On  reaching  Trachis  they  were  hospitably  received  by 
Ceyx.  Heracles  first  defeated  the  Dryopes,  and  assisted 
the  Dorian  King  ./Egiiiiius  in  his  contest  with  the  Lapithae. 
He  next  engaged  in  his  celebrated  combat  with  Cycnus,  the 
son  of  Ares,  which  took  place  at  Iton,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Gulf  of  Pagasse.  Heracles  not  only  slew  his  oppo- 
nent, but  even  wounded  the  god  of  war  himself,  who  had 
come  to  the  assistance  of  his  son.  This  contest  is  the  sub- 
ject of  the  celebrated  poem  called  the  "  Shield  of  Hercu- 
les," which  goes  under  the  name  of  Hesiod. 

IV.  DEATH  AND  APOTHEOSIS. — The  death  of  Heracles, 
of  which  we  learn  most  from  the  masterly  description  of 
Sophocles  in  the  "  Trachinise,"  is  generally  supposed  to 
have  been  connected  with  his  expedition  against  Eurytus. 
The  hero,  who  could  not  forget  the  ignominious  treatment 
he  had  received  at  the  hands  of  Eurytus,  now  marched  with 
an  army  from  Trachis  against  (Echalia.  The  town  and 
citadel  were  taken  by  storm,  and  Eurytus  and  his  sons 
slain  ;  while  the  beautiful  lole,  who  was  still  unmarried,  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  conqueror.  Heracles  now  withdrew 
with  great  booty,  but  halted  on  the  promontory  of  Cent- 
um, opposite  the  Locrian  coast,  to  raise  an  altar  and  offer  a 
solemn  sacrifice  of  thanksgiving  to  his  father  Zeus.  Dei'a- 
nira,  who  was  tormented  with  jealous  misgivings  concern- 
ing lole,  thought  it  was  now  high  time  to  make  use  of 
the  chaflm  of  Nessus.  She  accordingly  sent  her  husband 
a  white  sacrificial  garment,  which  she  anointed  with  the 
ointment  prepared  from  the  blood  of  the  Centaur.  Hera- 
cles donned  the  garment  without  suspicion,  but  scarcely 
had  the  flames  from  the  altar  heated  the  poison  than  it 


244  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

penetrated  the  body  of  the  unhappy  hero.  In  the  most 
fearful  agony,  he  strove  to  tear  off  the  garment,  but  in  vain, 
for  it  stuck  like  a  plaster  to  his  skin ;  and  where  he  suc- 
ceeded in  rending  it  away  by  force,  it  tore  out  great  pieces 
of  his  flesh  at  the  same  time.  In  his  frenzy  he  seized  the 
herald  Lichas,  the  bearer  of  the  unfortunate  present,  and 
violently  dashed  him  in  pieces  against  a  rock  of  the  sea. 
In  this  state  Heracles  was  brought  to  Trachis,  where  he 
found  that  Deianira,  full  of  sorrow  and  despair  on  learning 
the  consequences  of  her  act,  had  put  an  end  to  her  own 
life.  Convinced  that  cure  was  hopeless,  the  dying  hero 
proceeded  from  Trachis  to  CEta,  and  there  erected  a  funeral 
pile  on  which  to  end  his  torments.  None  of  those  around 
him,  however,  would  consent  to  set  the  pile  on  fire,  until 
Poeas,  the  father  of  Philoctetes,  happened  to  pass  by,  and 
rendered  him  the  service,  in  \.<3turn  for  which  Heracles  pre- 
sented him  with  his  bow  and  arrows.  As  the  flames  rose 
high,  a  cloud  descended  from  heaven,  and,  amidst  furious 
peals  of  thunder,  a  chariot  with  four  horses,  driven  by 
Athene,  appeared  and  bore  the  illustrious  hero  to  Olym- 
pus, where  he  was  joyfully  received  by  the  gods.  He  here 
became  reconciled  to  Hera,  who  gave  him  the  hand  of  her 
beauteous  daughter  Hebe  in  marriage. 

V.  HERACLES  AS  GOD.  —  We  have  already  laid  before 
our  readers  the  most  characteristic  features  of  the  myth. 
To  interpret  it  and  trace  it  back  in  all  its  details  to  the 
original  sources  would  be,  amidst  the  mass  of  provincial 
and  foreign  legends  with  which  it  is  amalgamated,  almost 
impossible.  Thus  much  is  certain,  however,  that,  apart 
from  the  conceptions  which  were  engrafted  on  the  story 
from  Tyrian  and  Egyptian  sources,  even  in  the  case  of  the 
Greek  Heracles,  myths  based  on  natural  phenomena  are 


PROVINCIAL  HEROIC  LEGENDS.  245 

mixed  up  with  historical  and  allegorical  myths.  The  his- 
toric element,  for  instance,  is  apparent  in  the  wars  of  Her- 
acles against  the  Dryopes  —  against  Augeas,  Neleus,  and 
Hippocoon.  Here  the  exploits  of  the  whole  Dorian  race 
are  personified  in  the  actions  of  the  hero.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  most  of  his  single  combats  a  symbolic  meaning, 
derived  from  natural  phenomena,  is  unmistakable.  Hera- 
cles, in  fact,  appears  to  have  been,  originally,  a  symbol  of 
the  power  of  the  sun  triumphing  over  the  dark  powers  in 
nature.  Driven  from  Argos  by  the  worship  of  the  Argive 
Hera,  he  first  sunk  to  the  level  of  a  hero,  but  was,  subse- 
quently, again  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  god.  This  occur- 
red at  a  time  when  the  gods  of  Greece  had  altogether  cast 
aside  their  physical  meaning ;  so  that  he  was  now  regarded 
principally  from  an  ethical  point  of  view.  He  appears  as 
a  symbol  of  that  lofty  force  of  character  which  triumphs 
over  all  difficulties  and  obstacles.  Poets  and  philosophers 
alike  vied  with  each  other  in  presenting  him  to  the  youth 
of  their  country  in  this  character,  pointing  to  his  career 
as  a  brilliant  example  of  what  a  man  might  accomplish,  in 
spite  of  a  thousand  obstacles,  by  mere  determination  and 
force  of  will.  The  well-known  allegory  of  the  sophist 
Prodicus,*  called  "  The  Choice  of  Hercules,"  is  an  instance 
of  the  mode  in  which  the  history  of  the  hero  was  used  to 
inculcate  moral  precepts. 

In  the  religious  system  of  the  Greeks,  Heracles  was  spe- 
cially honored  as  the  patron  of  the  gymnasia ;  the  gymna- 
sium of  Cynosarges,  in  Athens,  being  solely  dedicated  tc 

*  Prodicus,  a  native  of  the  island  of  Ceos,  was  an  elder  contem- 
porary of  Socrates.  Like  the  latter,  he  taught  in  Athens,  and  met 
with  a  similar  fate,  having  been  condemned  to  death  as  an  enemy  of 
the  popular  religion  and  a  corrupter  of  the  Athenian  youth. 


246          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

him.  After  his  deification,  Heracles  was  also  regarded  in 
the  character  of  a  savior  and  benefactor  of  his  nation ;  as 
one  who  had  not  only  merited  the  lasting  gratitude  of 
mankind  by  his  deeds  throughout  an  active  and  laborious 
life — in  having  rid  the  world  of  giants  and  noxious  beasts, 
in  having  extinguished  destructive  forces  of  nature,  and 
abolished  human  sacrifices  and  other  barbarous  institutions 
of  antiquity — but  also  as  a  kindly  and  beneficent  deity, 
ever  ready  to  afford  help  and  protection  to  mankind  in 
the  hour  of  need.  In  this  character  he  was  known  by  the 
names  of  Soter  (Savior)  and  Alexicacus  (averter  of  evil). 
He  had  temples  and  festivals  in  various  parts  of  Greece. 
In  Marathon,  which  boasted  of  being  the  first  seat  of  his 
worship,  games  were  celebrated  in  his  honor  every  four 
years,  at  which  silver  cups  were  given  as  prizes.  The 
fourth  day  of  every  month  was  held  sacred  to  him,  this 
day  being  regarded  as  his  birthday. 

We  have  already  mentioned  the  legendary  introduction 
of  his  worship  into  Rome.  Hercules,  as  he  was  called  in 
Itaiy,  was  identified  with  the  Italian  hero  Recaranus.  He 
had  an  altar  in  the  Forum  Boarium,  established,  accord- 
ing to  tradition,  by  Evander.  The  Roman  poets,  of  course, 
devoted  especial  attention  to  the  stories  of  his  journey 
through  Italy  and  his  fight  with  Cacus. 

In  Heracles  ancient  art  sought  to  portray  the  conception  of  gigan- 
tic bodily  strength.  He  is,  therefore,  generally  represented  as  a  full- 
grown  man — rarely  as  a  child  or  youth.  We  may  observe  the  man- 
ner  in  which  the  prominent  idea  of  physical  force  is  expressed  by 
regarding  the  formation  of  the  neck  and  throat  in  the  statue  of 
Heracles.  Nothing  can  express  better  a  bull-like  strength  than  the 
short  neck  and  the  prominent  muscles,  especially  if  associated  with  a 
broad,  deep  chest.  We  shall  be  able  to  appreciate  this  distinctive 
character  still  more  clearly  if  we  compare  the  form  of  Heracles  with 
that  of  the  ideal  god  Apollo,  whose  neck  is  especially  long  and 


PROVINCIAL  HEROIC  LEGENDS.  247 

slender.  The  figure  of  Heracles  is,  moreover,  characterized  by  a  head 
small  in  comparison  with  the  giant  body ;  by  curly  hair,  bushy  eye- 
brows, and  muscular  arms  and  legs.  This  conception  was  princi- 
pally developed  by  Myron  and  Lysippus.  A  statue  of  Heracles  by 
the  former  artist  played  a  part  in  connection  with  the  art  robberies 
of  Verres  in  Sicily.  Lysippus  erected  several  celebrated  statues  of 
Heracles,  the  most  remarkable  of  which  was  the  bronze  colossus  in 
Tarentum,  which  the  Romans,  after  the  capture  of  that  town,  trans- 
ferred to  the  Capitol.  Thence  it  was  brought,  by  order  of  Constan- 
tino, to  his  new  capital  of  Constantinople,  where  it  remained  until 
the  Latin  crusade  of  1202,  when  it  was  melted  down.  Lysippus 
portrayed  in  this  statue  a  mourning  Heracles,  which  no  one  had  ever 
attempted  before  him.  The  hero  appeared  in  a  sitting  posture, 
without  his  weapons,  his  left  elbow  resting  on  his  left  leg,  while  his 
head,  full  of  thought  and  sorrow,  rests  on  the  open  hand.  The  same 
artist,  in  a  still  greater  work,  depicted  the  twelve  labors  of  Heracles. 
These  formed  a  group  which  was  originally  executed  for  Alyzia,  a 
seaport  town  of  Acarnania,  but  which  was,  subsequently,  likewise 
transferred  to  Rome. 

First  among  existing  statues  is  the  Farnese  Hercules  (Fig.  58). 
This  celebrated  colossal  statue,  now  in  the  Naples  Museum,  was  dis- 
covered in  1540,  on  the  site  of  the  Thermae  of  Caracalla.  The  hero 
is  standing  upright,  resting  his  left  shoulder  on  his  club,  from  which 
hangs  his  lion's  skin.  This  attitude,  as  well  as  the  head  drooping 
towards  the  breast,  and  the  gloomy  gravity  of  his  countenance,  clearly 
show  that  the  hero  feels  bowed  down  by  the  burden  of  his  laborious 
life.  Even  the  thought  that  he  is  soon  to  be  released  from  his  igno- 
minious servitude  (he  holds  behind  him,  in  his  right  hand,  the  three 
apples  of  the  Hespcrides,  the  fruit  of  his  last  labor)  is  unable  to 
cheer  him,  and  his  thoughts  seem  to  revert  only  to  the  past.  On 
account  of  the  conception  of  the  piece,  and  the  existence  of  another 
copy  bearing  the  name  of  Lysippus,  the  Farnese  Hercules  is  supposed 
to  be  a  copy  of  a  work  of  Lysippus,  of  which  nothing  further  is 
known. 

Still  more  important  as  a  work  of  art,  though  it  has  reached  us 
in  a  terribly  mutilated  condition  —  minus  head,  arms,  and  legs  —  is 
the  celebrated  Torso  of  Hercules,  in  the  Vatican.  This  was  found 
in  Rome  during  the  reign  of  Pope  Julius  II.,  on  a  spot  where  the 
Theatre  of  Pompey,  of  which  it  was  probably  an  ornament,  once 
stood. 

Groups. — Heracles  in  action  was  a  still  more  favorite  subject  with 


Fig.  5S.—  Faruese  Hercules. 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  249 

artists,  who  delighted  to  portray  the  different  scenes  of  his  versa- 
tile life.  Numberless  representations  of  such  scenes  occur,  not  only 
in  the  form  of  statues  and  works  in  relief,  but  more  especially  on 
ancient  vases.  We  mention  here,  in  the  chronological  order  of  the 
events,  some  of  the  most  important. 

1.  Heracles  and  tlie  Serpents. — This  scene  was  early  depicted  by  the 
celebrated  painter  Zeuxis,  who  represented  Heracles  as  strangling  the 
serpents,  while  Alcmene  and  Amphitryon  stood  by  in  amazement. 
There  are  also  several  statues  representing  this  feat,  among  which 
that  at  Florence  takes  the  first  rank.     There  is  also  a  painting  from 
Herculaneum  in  the  Naples  Museum. 

2.  T/ie   Twelve  Labors.  —  These   have   naturally  been  treated   of 
times  out  of  number.     We  have  already  mentioned  the  group  of 
Lysippus,  which  he  executed  for  the  town  of  Alyzia.     A  still  existing 
bronze  statue  in  the  Capitoline  Museum,  representing  Heracles  bat- 
tling with  the  Hydra,  appears  to  belong  to  this  series.     Among  inter- 
esting remains  are  the  metope  reliefs  on  the  Theseum  at  Athens. 
Ten  on  the  east  side  of  the  temple  represent  scenes  from  the  life  of 
Heracles.     Nine   of  them  belong   to   the   twelve  labors — viz.,  the 
Nemean  lion,  the  Hydra,  the  Arcadian  hind,  the  Erymanthian  boar, 
the  horses  of  Diomedes,  Cerberus,  the  girdle  of  Hippolyte,  Geryon, 
and  the  Hesperides ;  while  the  tenth  tablet  represents  his  contest 
with  Cycnus.     The   remains   of  the   splendid   temple   of  Zeus    at 
Olympia,  which  was  completed  about  435  B.C.,  are  less  important. 
The  metopes  of  the  front  and  back  of  the  temple  contained  six  of 
the  labors  of  Heracles.     Those  representing  the  contest  with  the 
Cretan  bull,  the  dying  lion,  a  portion  from  the  fight  with  Geryon,  and 
some  other  fragments,  were  found  in  1829,  and  conveyed  to  the  mu- 
seum of  the  Louvre  at  Paris.     The  only  one  which  is  perfect,  how- 
ever, is  the  spirited  and  life-like  representation  of  the  struggle  with 
the  Cretan  bull. 

3.  Parerga  (Subordinate  Deeds). — First  among   these   come  the 
scenes  from  his  contest  with  the  Centaurs,  which  were  frequently 
treated  of  in  art.     Groups  of  these  exist  in  the  museum  at  Florence ; 
there  are  also  various  representations  to  be  found  on  vases.     His 
adventure  with  Nessus  is   represented    separately  on   a   Poinpeian 
painting  in  the  Naples  Museum ;  Nessus  crouches  in  a  humble  post- 
ure before  Heracles,  who  has  the  little  Hyllus  in  his  arms,  and  he 
appears  to  be  asking  permission  to  carry  Dei'anira  across  the  stream. 
There  is  also  an  interesting  representation  of  the  release  of  Prome- 
theus on  the  Sarcophagus  of  the  Capitol,  from  the  Villa  Pamfili, 


250          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

which  is,  in  other  respects,  also  worthy  of  mention.     The  seizure  of 
the  tripod  at  Delphi  is  also  frequently  portrayed  in  art. 

4.  Heracles  and  Omphale. — Of  the  monuments  referring  to  Hera- 
cles's  connection  with  Omphale,  the  most  important  is  the  beauti- 
ful Farnese  group  in  marble  in  the  Naples  Museum.     Omphale  has 
thrown  the  lion's  skin  round  her  beautiful  limbs,  and  holds  in  her 
right  hand  the  hero's  club.      Thus  equipped,  she  smiles  triumph- 
antly at  Heracles,  who  is  clothed  in  female  attire,  with  a  distaff  in 
his  hand. 

5.  Heracles  and  Telephus. — The  romantic  history  of  Telephus  was 
also  frequently  treated  of  in  art.     The  Naples  Museum  possesses  a 
fine  painting,  representing  the  discovery  of  the  child  after  it  has 
been  suckled  by  the  hind,  on  which  occasion,  strange  to  say,  Hera- 
cles himself  is  present.     In  the  Vatican  Museum  there  is  a  fine  mar- 
ble group,  representing  Heracles  with  the  child  Telephus  in  his  arms. 

7.  Attic  Legend.  —  l.  Cecrops.  —  Cecrops,  the  first 
founder  of  civilization  in  Attica,  plays  a  similar  part  here 
to  that  which  Cadmus  does  in  Thebes.  Like  Cadmus,  he 
was  afterward  called  an  immigrant ;  indeed,  he  was  said  to 
have  come  from  Sais,  in  Lower  Egypt.  In  his  case,  how- 
ever, we  are  able  to  trace,  the  rise  of  the  erroneous  tradi- 
tion with  far  greater  distinctness.  Pure  Attic  tradition 
recognizes  him  only  as  an  autochthon — that  is,  an  original 
inhabitant  born  of  the  earth  ;  and  further  adds,  that,  like 
the  giants,  he  was  half  man  and  half  serpent.  As  the 
mythical  founder  of  the  State,  he  was  also  regarded  as  the 
builder  of  the  citadel  (Cccropia)  ;  and  marriage,  as  well  as 
other  political  and  social  institutions,  were  ascribed  to  him. 
Perhaps,  like  Cadmus,  he  is  only  a  local  personification  of 
the  rain-god  Hermes,  who,  later,  sunk  to  the  level  of  a  hero. 
The  probability  of  this  view  is  greatly  enhanced  by  the 
fact  that  his  three  daughters — Herse,  Aglaurus,  and  Pan- 
drosus  —  received  divine  honors.  It  was  under  Cecrops 
that  the  celebrated  contest  occurred  between  Poseidon  and 
Athene  for  the  possession  of  Attica,  and  was  by  his  means 


PROVINCIAL  HEROIC    LEGENDS.  251 

decided  in  favor  of  the  goddess.  We  have  already  given 
an  account  of  it,  and  need  only  here  remark  that  the  story 
is  purely  the  result  of  the  observation  of  natural  phenom- 
ena. In  Attica,  in  fact,  there  are  only  two  seasons — a  cold, 
wet,  and  rainy  winter  (Poseidon),  and  a  warm,  dry,  genial 
summer  (Pallas).  These  seem  to  be  continually  striving 
for  the  supremacy  of  the  land.  Cecrops  was  succeeded  in 
the  government  by  Cranaiis,  who  is  represented  by  some 
as  his  son.  The  common  mythological  account  places  the 
flood  of  Deucalion  in  his  reign.  After  the  expulsion  of 
Cranatis,  Amphictyon,  one  of  the  sons  of  Deucalion,  suc- 
ceeded to  the  sovereignty  of  Attica,  of  whom  nothing 
more  is  known  than  that  he  was  deprived  of  the  govern- 
ment by  Erechtheus. 

2.  Erechtheus,  or  Erichthonius. —  Erechtheus,  or  Erich- 
thonius,  is  really  only  a  second  Cecrops  —  the  mythical 
founder  of  the  State  after  the  flood,  as  Cecrops  was  before 
it.  Being  also  earth-born,  he  is,  like  Cecrops,  endowed  with 
a  serpent's  form.  There  was  another  very  sacred  legend 
concerning  him,  which  stated  that  Gsea  (Ge),  immediately 
after  his  birth,  gave  him  to  the  goddess  Pallas  to  nurse. 
The  latter  first  intrusted  him  to  the  daughters  of  Cecrops, 
her  attendants  and  priestesses,  enclosed  in  a  chest.  The 
latter,  however,  prompted  by  curiosity,  opened  the  chest, 
contrary  to  the  commands  of  the  goddess,  and  were  pun- 
ished in  consequence  with  madness.  Erichthonius  was 
now  reared  by  the  goddess  herself  in  her  sanctuary  on  the 
citadel,  and  was  subsequently  made  king  of  Athens.  The 
same  stories  are  then  related  of  him  as  of  Cecrops — that 
he  regulated  the  State,  introduced  the  worship  of  the  gods, 
and  settled  the  dispute  between  Poseidon  and  Athene. 

The  tomb  of  Erechtheus  was  shown  in  the  Erecb^heum, 


252          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

the  ancient  temple  dedicated  to  Athene  Polias,  where  the 
never-dying  olive-tree  created  by  the  goddess  was  also  pre- 
served. 

Two  among  the  daughters  of  Erechtheus  are  celebrated 
in  legend.  The  first  is  Orithyia,  who  was  carried  off  by 
Boreas,  and  became  the  mother  of  Calais  and  Zetes,  whom 
we  come  across  again  in  the  story  of  the  Argonauts ;  the 
other  is  Procris,  the  wife  of  the  handsome  hunter  Cepha- 
lus,  who  was  said  to  be  a  son  of  Hermes  by  Herse,  the 
daughter  of  Cecrops.  Cephalus  was  carried  off  by  Eos, 
who  was  unable  to  shake  his  fidelity  to  his  wife.  It  served, 
however,  to  excite  the  jealousy  of  the  latter,  which  ulti- 
mately proved  fatal  to  her.  Procris  had  hidden  herself 
among  the  bushes,  in  order  to  watch  her  husband,  when 
Cephalus,  taking  her  for  a  wild  animal,  unwittingly  killed 
her.  After  the  death  of  Erechtheus,  the  tragic  poets  re- 
late that  Ion,  the  mythical  ancestor  of  the  lonians,  ruled 
in  Athens.  This  means  nothing  more  than  that  the  prim- 
itive Pelasgian  age  in  Attica  had  now  come  to  an  end,  and 
the  dominion  of  the  lonians  commenced. 

3.  Theseus. — Theseus  is  the  national  hero  of  the  lonians, 
just  as  Heracles  is  of  the  .^Eolians.  He  has  not  unjustly 
been  called  the  second  Heracles ;  and  he  has,  indeed,  many 
features  in  common  with  the  JEolian  hero,  since  the  na- 
tional jealousy  of  the  lonians  led  them  to  adopt  every  pos- 
sible means  of  making  their  own  hero  rival  that  of  their 
neighbors.  They  therefore  strove  to  represent  him,  like- 
wise, as  a  hero  tried  in  numberless  contests  —  generous, 
unselfish,  and  devoted  to  the  interests  of  mankind  —  and 
of  course  ascribed  to  hkn  a  multitude  of  adventurous  ex- 
ploits. There  is  no  great  undertaking  of  antiquity  in 
which  Theseus  is  not  supposed  to  have  taken  part,  and 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  253 

he  was  even  sent  on  an  expedition  to  hell,  in  imitation  of 
Heracles. 

He  was  the  son  of  the  Athenian  King  ^Egeus,  whom 
mythological  tradition  made  a  great-grandson  of  Erech- 
theus.  After  his  father,  Pandion,  had  been  driven  out  by 
his  relations,  the  sons  of  Metion,  ./Egeus  betook  himself  to 
Megara,  where  he  was  hospitably  received  by  the  ruler,  Py- 
las.  From  Megara,  ^Egeus,  Pallas,  Nisus,  and  Lycus,  the 
sons  of  Pandion,  undertook  an  expedition  against  Athens, 
which  ended  in  the  expulsion  of  the  Metionidae,  and  the 
restoration  of  the  former  royal  family  in  the  person  of 
^Egeus.  Such,  at  least,  is  the  tradition  ;  although  it  is  more 
probable  that  Athens  never  had  a  king  of  this  name,  and 
that  ^Egeus  (waveman)  is  only  a  surname  of  Poseidon,  the 
chief  deity  of  the  seafaring  lonians.  JEgeus,  though  twice 
married,  had  no  heir,  and  now  undertook  a  journey  to  Del- 
phi to  seek  the  advice  of  the  oracle.  On  his  way  back  he 
stopped  at  the  court  of  Pittheus,  King  of  Trcezen,  and  be- 
came, by  his  daughter  ^Ethra,  the  father  of  Theseus.  Be- 
fore his  departure,  he  placed  his  sword  and  sandals  be- 
neath a  heavy  stone,  and  commanded  JEthra  to  send  his 
son  to  Athens  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  move  the  stone 
and  take  his  father's  sword.  Theseus  was  carefully  trained 
in  music  and  gymnastics  by  the  sagacious  Pittheus,  and 
soon  developed  into  a  stately  youth.  He  is  also  supposed 
to  have  been  educated  by  the  Centaur  Chiron,  whose  in- 
struction had  now  become  a  necessary  item  in  the  educa- 
tion of  a  real  hero. 

When  Theseus  was  sixteen,  his  mother  took  him  to  the 
stone  beneath  Avhich  lay  his  father's  sword  and  sandals. 
With  a  slight  effort  he  raised  the  stone,  and  thus  entered 
on  his  heroic  career.  His  earlier  adventures  consisted  in 


254          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

overcoming  a  series  of  obstacles  that  beset  him  in  his  jour- 
ney from  Troezen  to  Athens.  They  are  generally  supposed 
to  have  been  six  in  number. 

1.  Between  Trcezen  and  Epidaurus  he  slew  Periphetes, 
the  son  of  Hephaestus — who  was  lame,  like  his  father — be- 
cause he  was  in  the  habit  of  murdering  travellers  with  his 
iron  club ;  whence  he  is  called  Corynetes,  or  club-bearer. 

2.  He  next  delivered  the  Isthmus  from  another  power- 
ful robber  called  Sinis.     He  used  to  fasten  travellers  who 
fell  into  his  hands  to  the  top  of  a  pine-tree,  which  he  bent 
to  the  earth,  and  then  allowed  to  recoil ;  after  which,  on 
their  reaching  the  ground,  he  would  kill  them  outright; 
whence  he  is  called  Pityocamptes,  or  pine-bender.     The- 
seus inflicted  the  same  fate  on  him. 

3.  In  the  woody  district  of  Crommyon  he  destroyed  a 
dangerous  wild  sow  that  laid  waste  the  country. 

4.  Not  far  from  this,  on  the  rock  of  Sciron,  on  the  bor- 
ders of  Megara,  dwelt  another  monster,  called  Sciron,  who 
compelled  travellers  to  wash  his  feet,  and  then  kicked  them 
into  the  sea.     Theseus  served  him  in  a  similar  fashion. 

5.  In  the  neighborhood  of  Eleusis  he  vanquished  the 
giant  Cercyon,  who  compelled  all  who  fell  into  his  hands 
to  wrestle  with  him. 

6.  His  last  combat  awaited  him  on  the  confines  of  Eleu- 
sis, where  dwelt  the  inhuman   Damastes.      This  monster 
used  to  lay  Ins  victims  in  a  bed :   if  this  was  too   short, 
he  would  hack  off  their  projecting  limbs ;  if  too  long,  he 
would  beat  out  and  pull  asunder  their  limbs,  whence  he  is 
Called  Procrustes.     He  was  also  slain  by  Theseus. 

On  reaching  Athens,  he  found  his  father  ^Egeus  in  the 
toils  of  the  dangerous  sorceress  Medea,  who  had  fled  from 
Corinth  to  Athens.  She  was  on  the  point  of  making  away 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  255 

with  the  new-comer  by  poison,  when  ^Egeus,  fortunately, 
recognized  him  by  the  sword  he  bore,  and  preserved  him 
from  his  impending  fate. 

Medea  was  compelled  to  flee ;  but  a  new  danger  awaited 
the  hero  from  the  fifty  sons  of  Pallas,  who  had  reckoned 
on  succeeding  their  childless  uncle  ^Egeus.  Theseus,  how- 
ever, slew  some  in  battle  and  expelled  the  rest. 

He  now  undertook  his  greatest  and  most  adventurous 
feat,  in  order  to  free  his  country  from  its  shameful  trib- 
ute to  Minos,  King  of  Crete,  whose  son,  the  youthful  hero 
Androgeos,  had  been  treacherously  murdered  by  the  Athe- 
nians and  Megareans.  Another  account  says  that  he  was 
sent  by  ^Egeus  against  the  bull  of  Marathon,  and  thus  slain. 
At  any  rate,  Minos  undertook  a  war  of  revenge.  He  first 
marched  against  Megara,  of  which  Nisus,  the  brother  of 
^Egeus,  was  king.  Minos  conquered  him  by  means  of  his 
own  daughter  Scylla,  who  became  enamored  of  Minos,  and 
cut  off  from  her  father's  head  the  purple  lock  on  which 
his  life  depended.  After  having  taken  Megara  and  slain 
Nisus,  Minos  marched  against  Athens.  Here  he  was  equal- 
ly successful,  and  compelled  the  vanquished  Athenians  to 
expiate  the  blood  of  his  son  by  sending,  every  eight  or 
(according  to  the  Greek  method  of  reckoning)  every  nine 
years,  seven  youths  and  seven  maidens  to  be  devoured  by 
the  Minotaur.  This  was  a  monster,  half  man  and  half 
bull.  Twice  already  had  the  bloody  tribute  been  sent, 
and  the  third  fell  just  after  Theseus's  arrival  in  Athens ;  he 
at  once  bravely  offered  to  go  among  the  allotted  victims. 
He  was  resolved  to  do  battle  with  the  Minotaur,  and  to 
stake  his  life  on  the  liberation  of  his  country  from  the 
shameful  tribute.  Under  the  guidance  of  Aphrodite  he 
passed  over  to  Crete,  and  soon  discovered  the  efficacy  of 


256  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

her  protection.  The  goddess  kindled  a  passionate  love  for 
the  hero  in  the  breast  of  Ariadne,  the  daughter  of  Minos. 
Ariadne  rendered  him  every  possible  assistance  in  his  un- 
dertaking, and  especially  presented  him  with  a  clew  of 
thread,  by  means  of  which  Theseus,  after  having  slain  the 
Minotaur,  was  enabled  to  find  his  way  out  of  the  Laby- 
rinth. We  have  already  narrated  how  Ariadne  was  de- 
serted by  Theseus  on  the  isle  of  Naxos,  only  to  become 
the  bride  of  Dionysus,  the  divine  son  of  Semele.  Theseus 
also  landed  at  Delos,  where  he  instituted  the  festival  of 
the  Delia  in  honor  of  the  divine  children  of  Leto.  On 
reaching  Athens,  he  showed  his  gratitude  to  his  divine 
protectress  by  the  institution  of  the  worship  of  Aphrodite 
Pandemus.  In  honor  of  Dionysus  and  Ariadne,  he  insti- 
tuted the  Oschophoria,  in  which  festival  Athene  also  had 
a  share.  Lastly,  in  honor  of  Apollo,  he  instituted  the  Py- 
anepsia,  a  festival  which  was  celebrated  on  the  seventh  day 
of  the  month  Pyanepsion  (end  of  October). 

The  happy  return  of  Theseus  from  his  Cretan  expedi- 
tion, however,  proved  the  death  of  his  aged  father.  ^Ege- 
us,  as  he  stood  on  the  coast  looking  for  his  son's  return, 
perceived  that  the  ships  had  black  sails  instead  of  white, 
which  were  to  have  been  hoisted  in  the  event  of  his  son's 
success ;  and  believing  that  all  was  lost,  he  cast  himselt 
headlong  into  the  sea.  This  story  was  perhaps  only  in- 
vented to  account  for  the  name  of  ^gean  Sea. 

With  regard  to  the  other  exploits  of  Theseus,  there  ex 
ists  the  greatest  variety  of  accounts  as  to  the  order  in 
which  they  took  place.  As  king,  he  is  said  to  have  been 
the  first  to  unite  the  separate  districts  of  Attica  into  one 
political  community,  with  one  state  Prytaneum,  and  to 
have  instituted  the  festival  of  the  Panathensea  in  commern- 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  257 

oration  of  this  event.     The  following,  among  his  later  ex- 
ploits, are  worthy  of  mention  : 

1.  He  captured  the  bull  of  Marathon  (said  to  have  been 
the  same  which  Heracles  brought  alive  from  Crete),  and 
sacrificed  it  in  Athens  to  Apollo  Delphinius. 

2.  He  assisted  his  friend   Pirithoiis,  the  prince  of  the 
Lapithae,  in  his  contest  with  the  Centaurs. 

3.  He  undertook  with  Pirithoiis  an  expedition  to  Lace- 
daemon,  in  which  they  carried  off  Helen,  the  sister  of  the 
Dioscuri. 

4.  At  the  request  of  Pirithoiis,  he  accompanied  him  to 
the  lower  world  to  carry  off  Persephone ;  but  Hades,  en- 
raged at  their  audacity,  caused  them  both  to  be  bound  in 
chains  and  fastened  to  a  rock.     Theseus  was  rescued  from 
this  plight  by  Heracles,  but  during  his  absence  the  Dios- 
curi had  released  their  sister  from  Aphidnae,  where  she  was 
confined. 

5.  He  next  joined  Heracles  in  his  expedition  against 
the  Amazons,  and  received,  as  the  reward  of  victory,  their 
queen  Antiope,  or  Hippolyte.     Another  tradition  asserts 
that  Antiope  followed  him  of  her  own  free-will  to  Athens, 
where  she  was  married  to  him,  and  became  the  mother  of 
Hippolytus,  famed  for  his  unhappy  fate.     His  great  beau- 
ty caused  his  step-mother  Phaedra,  a  later  wife  of  Theseus, 
and  a  sister  of  Ariadne,  to  fall  in  love  with  him.     As  he 
withdrew  from  her  dishonorable  proposals  by  flight,  she 
accused  him  to  his  father  of  attempts  on  her  virtue.     The- 
seus, in  his  wrath,  besought  Poseidon  to  punish  his  faith- 
less son  ;  and  the  god,  who  had  sworn  to  grant  any  request 
of  Theseus,  sent  a  wild  bull  (i.  e.,  a  breaker)  out  of  the  sea 
as  Hippolytus  was  driving  in  his   chariot  along  the  sea- 
shore.    This  so  terrified  his  horses  that  Hippolytus  was 

17 


258  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

thrown  from  his  chariot,  and  dragged  along  the  ground 
till  he  was  dead.  This  story — the  scene  of  which  was  af- 
terward transferred  to  Troezen,  whither  Theseus  was  sup- 
posed to  have  fled  on  account  of  a  murder — was  dealt  with 
in  a  touching  manner  by  the  tragic  poets.  The  "  Hippoly- 
tus  "  of  Euripides  is  still  extant. 

6.  As  a  result  of  the  carrying-off  of  Antiope,  a  second 
contest  with  the  Amazons  was  subsequently  invented,  in 


Fig.  59. — Elgin  Theseus.    Eritish  Museum. 

which  Theseus  was  engaged  alone,  and  which  took  place 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  Athens.  The  Amazons 
are  supposed  to  have  invaded  Attica,  in  order  to  release 
their  queen.  Antiope,  however,  was  so  enamored  of  The- 
seus that  she  refused  to  return,  and  fought  at  her  hus- 
band's side,  against  her  kindred,  until  she  was  slain. 

Lastly,  Theseus  is  said  to  have  taken  part  in  the  Caly 
donian  boar  hunt,  and  also  in  the  expedition  of  the  Argo- 
nauts, of  which  we  shall  have  more  to  say  hereafter. 


260  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

The  death  of  Theseus  is  commonly  agreed  to  have  taken 
place  in  the  following  manner :  He  had  been  deprived  of 
the  sovereignty  of  Athens  by  Menestheus,  who  was  aided 
by  the  Dioscuri ;  and  then  withdrew  to  the  island  of 
Scyros.  Here  he  was  at  first  hospitably  received,  but  sub- 
sequently murdered  in  a  treacherous  manner  by  Lycome- 
des,  the  ruler  of  the  island.  Demophoon,  the  son  of  The- 
seus, is  said  to  have  afterward  recovered  his  father's  king- 
dom. At  a  still  later  period  the  bones  of  the  hero  were 
brought  to  Athens  by  Cimon,  at  the  command  of  the  Del- 
phic oracle.  Cimon  is  also  supposed  to  have  caused  the 
erection  of  the  temple  of  Theseus,  which  still  exists  in 
Athens,  and  serves  as  an  art  museum.  The  eighth  day  of 
every  month  was  held  sacred  to  Theseus,  besides  which  he 
had  a  special  festival,  called  the  Thesea,  on  the  eighth  of 
Pyanepsion. 

Art  has  followed  the  example  of  the  poets  and  mythologists  in  de- 
picting Theseus  as  a  second  Heracles.  Here,  however,  the  charac- 
teristic differences  that  existed  between  the  Doric  and  Ionic  races 
become  apparent.  Just  as  the  latter  race  surpassed  the  former  in 
elasticity,  both  of  mind  and  body,  so  their  national  hero  gives  token 
not  only  of  a  higher  intellectual  being,  but  also  of  a  body  more  lithe, 
and  capable  of  greater  swiftness  and  dexterity,  than  that  of  the 
Doric  hero.  The  slighter  and  more  elegant  form  of  Theseus  lacks, 
perhaps,  the  sheer  brute  strength  of  Heracles,  but  is  compensated  by 
the  possession  of  a  far  greater  degree  of  activity  and  adroitness. 
The  expression  of  face  is  more  amiable  and  the  hairless  bristling 
than  that  of  Heracles,  while  there  is  generally  no  beard.  Such  is 
Theseus  as  depicted  by  Greek  art  at  the  epoch  of  its  full  develop- 
ment ;  later  art  strove  to  render  the  form  of  the  body  still  more  lithe 
and  graceful.  The  costume  of  Theseus  consists,  like  ^hat  of  his 
prototype  Heracles,  of  a  lion's  skin  and  club ;  sometimes  also  of  the 
chlamys  and  petasus  of  the  Attic  youth.  Existing  art  monuments 
are  far  less  numerous  in  his  case  than  in  that  of  Heracles.  If  the 
explanation  is  correct,  the  British  Museum  possesses  a  Theseus  of 
priceless  value.  Among  the  statues  of  the  Parthenon  which  have 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  261 

been  preserved,  there  is  one  of  a  figure  negligently  reclining  on  a 
lion's  skin,  which,  with  the  exception  of  the  nose,  hands,  and  feet,  is 
in  a  tolerably  good  state  of  preservation  (Fig.  59.)  It  belonged  to 
the  great  group  of  the  east  gable,  which  represented  the  first  appear- 
ance of  the  new-born  Athene  to  the  astonished  gods.  It  is  the  figure 
of  a  youth  in  his  prime,  somewhat  larger  than  life,  and  altogether  a 
perfect  ideal  of  manly  beauty. 

A  representation  of  the  conflict  of  Theseus  with  the  invading  army 
of  the  Amazons  still  exists  on  a  large  piece  of  frieze-work,  which, 
together  with  the  representations  of  the  battle  of  the  Lapithae  and 
Centaurs  (which  have  been  already  mentioned),  formerly  decorated 
the  walls  of  the  shrine  of  Apollo's  temple  in  Phigalia,  and  is  now  the 
property  of  the  British  Museum.  Among  the  Greek  warriors  The- 
seus may  be  easily  recognized  by  his  lion's  skin  and  the  club,  which 
he  is  in  the  act  of  swinging  against  a  mounted  Amazon,  probably 
the  leader  of  the  hostile  army.  We  give  an  engraving  of  the  scene 
where  Theseus  obtained  the  sword  and  sandals  of  his  father  from 
beneath  the  rock,  after  a  relief  in  the  Villa  Albani  (Fig.  60). 

8.  Cretan  Legend.  —  1.  Minos  and  the  Minotaur. — 
Cretan  myths  are  both  obscure  and  difficult  of  interpre- 
tation, because  Phoenician  and  Phrygian  influences  made 
themselves  felt  at  a  very  early  period,  and  native  sources 
fail  us.  Minos  is  commonly  supposed  to  have  been  the 
first  king  of  the  country.  He  was  the  son  of  Zeus  and 
Europa,  who  is  called  in  Homer  a  daughter  of  Phoenix. 
This  Phoenix  was  subsequently  made  into  Agenor,  a  Phoe- 
nician, King  of  Sidon ;  and  the  story  then  arose  that  Zeus, 
in  the  form  of  a  white  bull,  had  carried  off  Europa,  and 
arrived  with  his  lovely  prey  in  Crete.  Europa  is  there  said 
to  have  given  birth  to  Minos,  Rhadamanthys  (Rhadaman- 
thus),  and  some  say  Sarpedon.  She  afterward  married 
Asterion,  who  brought  up  the  sons  of  Zeus  as  his  own 
children,  and,  at  his  death,  left  the  kingdom  to  Minos. 
How  and  when  this  story  arose  it  is  quite  impossible  to 
say.  Equally  obscure  is  the  physical  meaning  of  Europa. 


262  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

She  is  generally  supposed  to  be  the  moon-goddess,  and  her 
abduction  to  Crete  a  token  of  the  introduction  of  the  wor- 
ship of  the  Syrian  goddess  Astarte  into  that  island.  Minos, 
after  having  expelled  his  brothers,  Sarpedon  and  Rhadaman- 
thus,  became  sole  king  of  Crete.  Of  his  brothers,  Sarpe- 
don went  to  Lycia,  while  the  pious  Rhadamanthus  found  a 
refuge  in  Boeotia.  Minos  next  married  Pasiphae,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Helios  and  Perseis,  by  whom  he  became  the  father 
of  Catreus,  who  succeeded  him,  Deucalion,  Glaucus,  and 
Androgeos,  besides  several  daughters,  of  whom  the  most 
celebrated  are  Ariadne  and  Phaedra.  Minos  gave  wise 
laws  to  his  people,  and  became  supreme  at  sea  among  the 
isles  of  the  JEgean  Sea,  and  even  as  far  as  Attica. 

In  order  to  vindicate  his  right  to  the  crown,  Minos  be- 
sought Poseidon  to  send  him  a  bull  out  of  the  sea,  which 
he  was  then  to  sacrifice  to  the  god.  Poseidon  granted  his 
prayer,  but  Minos  was  induced  by  the  beauty  of  the  animal 
to  place  it  among  his  own  herds.  As  a  punishment  of  his 
perfidy,  Poseidon  kindled  in  the  breast  of  Pasiphae  an  un- 
natural love  for  the  bull,  and  the  fruit  of  their  connection 
was  the  Minotaur.  This  was  a  monster,  half  man  and  half 
bull,  which  Minos  shut  up  in  the  Labyrinth  that  had  been 
made  by  the  skill  of  Daedalus.  The  food  of  the  monster 
consisted  of  human  beings,  who  were  partly  criminals  and 
partly  youths  and  maidens,  sent  as  tribute  from  the  sub- 
jugated countries.  This  lasted  until  Theseus  came  to  Crete, 
and,  with  the  aid  of  Ariadne  and  Daedalus,  destroyed  the 
Minotaur.  Such  is  the  substance  of  this  perplexing  myth- 
ical tradition,  of  which  the  simplest  interpretation  is  that 
the  Minotaur  was  originally  an  ancient  idol  of  the  Phoeni- 
cian sun -god  Baal,  which  had  the  form  of  a  bull,  and  to 
which  human  sacrifices  were  offered.  The  destruction  of 


PROVINCIAL    HEROIC    LEGENDS.  263 

the  Minotaur  by  Theseus  is  a  symbol  of  the  triumph  of 
the  higher  Greek  civilization  over  Phoenician  barbarism, 
and  the  consequent  abolition  of  human  sacrifices. 

Closely  connected  with  the  royal  family  of  Crete  we  find 
Daedalus,  the  most  celebrated  artist  of  the  legendary  pe- 
riod. He  is  said  to  have  been  a  son  of  Metion,  and  a  de- 
scendant of  Erechtheus,  and  to  have  fled  from  Athens  to 
Crete  after  murdering  his  nephew  Talus  in  a  fit  of  profes- 
sional jealousy.  During  his  residence  in  Crete  he  con- 
structed the  Labyrinth,  an  underground  building  with  an 
endless  maze  of  passages,  as  a  dwelling-place  for  the  Min- 
otaur ;  besides  many  other  wonderful  works  of  art.  For 
having  aided  Theseus  in  his  combat  with  the  Minotaur, 
Daedalus  and  his  son  Icarus  were  both  imprisoned  in  the 
Labyrinth  of  Minos.  The  story  of  his  flight,  which  he  ac- 
complished by  means  of  the  artificial  wings  that  he  made 
for  himself  and  his  son,  is  well  known  from  the  "  Metamor- 
phoses "  of  Ovid.  Icarus  fell  into  the  sea  that  is  named 
after  him,  and  was  drowned,  but  Daedalus  reached  Cumae  in 
safety.  From  this  place  he  passed  over  to  Sicily,  where  he 
was  hospitably  received  by  Cocalus.  When  Minos,  how- 
ever, pursued  the  fugitive  and  demanded  his  surrender, 
not  only  was  his  request  refused,  but  he  was  even  put  to 
death  by  the  contrivance  of  the  king's  daughters. 

Of  the  other  sons  of  Minos,  Deucalion  is  celebrated  as 
having  taken  part  in  the  Calydonian  boar  hunt,  and  also 
as  the  father  of  the  hero  Idomeneus,  who  fought  against 
Troy.  Glaucus  was  killed,  while  yet  a  boy,  by  falling  into 
a  cask  of  honey  as  he  was  pursuing  a  mouse.  %He  is  re- 
ported, however,  to  have  been  restored  to  life  by  the  Co- 
rinthian augur  Polyidus,  or,  according  to  others,  by  Ascle- 
pius  himself. 


264  GKEEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

2.  Talos. — The  legend  of  Talos,  the  brazen  man,  betrays 
likewise  a  Phoenician  origin,  and  refers  to  the  cruel  prac- 
tice of  offering  human  sacrifices.  This  Talos  was  made 
of  brass,  and  was  invulnerable.  Hephaestus,  or,  as  others 
say,  Zeus,  gave  him  to  Minos  as  guardian  of  the  island  of 
Crete,  round  which  he  travelled  thrice  a  day.  If  he  per- 
ceived any  strangers  approach,  he  would  spring  into  the 
fire,  and,  after  becoming  red-hot,  he  would  clasp  them  to 
his  breast,  until  they  expired  beneath  the  sardonic  chuckle 
of  the  demon.  He  attempted  to  drive  off  the  Argonauts 
with  stones,  but  was  destroyed  by  the  skill  of  Medea.  Ta- 
los had  a  single  vein,  which  ran  from  his  head  to  his  feet, 
and  was  closed  at  the  top  with  a  nail.  This  nail  Medea 
cleverly  succeeded  in  extracting,  in  consequence  of  which 
Talos  bled  to  death. 


IV.— COMBINED  UNDERTAKINGS  OF  THE  LATER 
HEROIC  AGE. 

1 .  The  Calydonian  Hunt.— The  story  of  Meleager 
and  the  Calydonian  boar  hunt  was  undoubtedly,-in  its  ori- 
gin, nothing  more  than  a  provincial  myth  based  on  natural 
phenomena,  like  other  myths  that  we  have  already  ex- 
plained. In  this  case  the  physical  significance  involved  in 
the  myth  soon  disappeared,  owing  to  the  treatment  it  re- 
ceived at  the  hands  of  the  epic  and  dramatic  poets.  The 
poets,  in  fact,  succeeded  in  introducing  some  striking  eth- 
ical conceptions,  which  absorbed  all  higher  interest. 

CEneus,  King  of  Calydon,  in  ^Etolia,  on  the  occasion  of 
a  great  festival  which  was  celebrated  after  a  successful  vin- 
tage, had  accidentally  or  purposely  omitted  to  sacrifice  to 


UNDERTAKINGS  OF  THE  LATER  HEROIC  AGE.    265 

Artemis.  To  punish  this  neglect  she  sent  a  huge  wild 
boar,  which  devastated  the  fields  of  Calydon,  and  seemed 
invincible  by  any  ordinary  means  on  account  of  its  vast 
size.  Meleager,  the  brave  and  heroic  son  of  CEneus,  there- 
fore assembled  men  and  hounds  in  great  number  to  slay  it. 
The  boar  was  slain ;  but  Artemis  stirred  up  strife  over  the 
head  and  hide  between  the  ^Etolians  and  the  Curetes  of 
Pleuron.  At  first  the  former  were  victorious ;  but  when 
Meleager  withdrew  in  wrath  from  the  battle  because  his 
mother  had  cursed  him  for  the  death  of  her  brother,  they 
were  no  longer  able  to  keep  the  field,  and  soon  saw  their 
city  closely  invested  by  their  enemies.  In  vain  did  the 
elders  and  priests  of  Calydon  beseech  Meleager  ;  in  vain 
did  his  father,  sisters,  and  even  mother  beseech  him  to  aid 
his  hard-pressed  countrymen.  Like  Achilles  in  the  Trojan 
war,  when  he  was  wroth  with  Agamemnon  on  account  of 
the  loss  of  Briseis,  Meleager  long  refused  to  stir.  At  last 
his  wife  —  the  beautiful  Cleopatra  —  succeeded  in  moving 
him.  He  donned  his  armor,  and  put  himself  at  the  head 
of  his  countrymen  for  a  sally  against  the  besiegers.  Brill- 
iant, indeed,  was  the  victory  of  the  men  of  Calydon  ;  but 
the  hero  Meleager  did  not  return  from  the  battle ;  for  the 
cruel  Erinyes,  who  had  heard  his  mother's  curse,  destroyed 
him  with  the  arrows  of  Apollo. 

Such  is  the  earliest  form  of  the  legend,  as  it  exists  in 
the  "  Iliad."  In  time,  however,  Meleager  was  said  to  have 
called  together  against  the  boar  all  the  renowned  heroes 
of  Greece.  Among  others  there  came  the  Dioscuri,  Castor 
and  Pollux ;  Theseus  and  his  friend  Pirithous ;  Idas  and 
Lynceus,  the  sons  of  Aphareus ;  Admetus  of  Pherae ;  Jason, 
from  lolcus  ;  Iphicles  and  lolaiis,  from  Thebes ;  Peleus, 
the  father  of  Achilles ;  Telamon,  from  Salamis ;  Ancaeus 


266  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

and  the  beautiful  huntress  Atalante  (Atalanta).  from  Arca- 
dia ;  besides  the  soothsayer  Amphiaraus,  from  Argos.  Af- 
ter (Eneus  had  entertained  his  guests  royally  for  nine  days, 
the  hunt  began,  and  the  huge  beast,  which  was  as  large  as 
an  ox,  was  surrounded  and  driven  from  its  lair.  Atalante, 
the  swift  huntress,  was  the  first  to  inflict  a  wound.  Ancas- 
us  then  advanced  with  his  battle-axe,  but  the  enraged  beast, 
with  one  stroke  of  his  dreadful  tusks,  tore  open  his  body 
and  killed  him  on  the  spot.  At  length  the  monster  re- 
ceived a  mortal  wound  from  a  spear  hurled  by  the  power- 
ful arm  of  Meleager,  and  was  soon  despatched  by  the  rest. 
Meleager  received  as  his  due  the  head  and  hide  of  the 
slaughtered  animal,  but  resigned  the  prize  to  Atalante,  of 
whom  he  was  enamored,  on  the  ground  that  she  was  the 
first  to  wound  the  boar.  This  act  excited  the  bitter  jeal- 
ousy of  Plexippus  and  Toxeus,  the  sons  of  Thestius,  King 
of  Pleuron,  and  brothers  of  Altha3a,  the  mother  of  Meleager. 
They  accordingly  lay  in  wait  for  Atalante,  and  robbed  her 
of  the  present.  Enraged  at  this,  Meleager  slew  them  both. 
But  Meleager's  death,  though  caused  by  the  wrath  of  his 
mother,  was  worked  out  differently  in  the  time  of  the  trag- 
ic poets.  The  Fates  had  appeared  to  Altha3a,  soon  after 
the  birth  of  Meleager,  and  informed  her  that  her  son  would 
only  live  until  a  certain  brand,  which  was  then  burning  on 
the  fire,  was  consumed.  Althaea  immediately  snatched  the 
brand  from  the  flames  and  carefully  treasured  it  up.  Af- 
ter Meleager  had  slain  her  brothers,  in  the  first  outburst  of 
grief  and  indignation  against  her  son,  she  placed  the  brand 
affain  in  the  fire,  and  thus  cut  off  the  noble  hero  in  the 

O  ' 

prime  of  his  youth  and  beauty.  Althaea,  on  learning  the 
unhappy  fate  of  her  son,  full  of  sorrow  for  her  hasty  deed, 
put  an  end  to  her  own  life. 


UNDERTAKINGS  OF  THE  LATER  HEROIC  AGE.    267 

2.  The  Argonauts.  —  The  story  of  the  Argonauts 
experienced  a  similar  fate  to  that  of  the  Calydonian  hunt. 
It  was  originally  only  a  Thessalian  myth  based  on  natural 
phenomena ;  but  in  the  hands  of  the  poets  it  swelled  to  a 
mass  of  legends  common  to  all  the  tribes  of  Greece,  the 
nucleus  of  which  was  the  history  of  the  golden  fleece. 
Athamas,  the  son  of  ^Eolus,  was  King  of  the  Minyae.  He 
put  away  his  first  wife,  Nephele  (cloud),  in  order  to  marry 
Ino,  the  daughter  of  Cadmus ;  though  he  still  kept  Phrix- 
us  (rain-shower)  and  Helle  (ray  of  light),  his  children  by 
Nephele,  with  him.  By  Ino  he  had  two  other  children, 
Learchus  and  Melicertes,  whom  their  mother  naturally  pre- 
ferred to  her  step-children,  and  for  whose  sake  she  endeav- 
ored to  drive  the  latter  from  their  father's  house.  Soon 
afterward,  either  at  the  command  of  Nephele,  whom  some 
represent  as  a  goddess,  or  in  consequence  of  her  prayers  for 
the  punishment  of  Athamas,  the  land  was  visited  with  a 
long  drought,  and  Ino  persuaded  her  husband  to  sacrifice 
Phrixus  as  a  sin-offering  to  Zeus,  in  order  to  put  an  end 
to  the  calamity.  Whether  Helle  was  to  have  shared  her 
brother's  fate  we  cannot  tell,  for,  before  Ino  could  accom- 
plish her  purpose,  Nephele  came  to  the  assistance  of  her 
children,  and  gave  them  a  winged  ram  with  a  golden  fleece, 
which  Hermes  had  presented  to  her  for  that  purpose. 
Seated  on  this  ram,  they  fled  over  the  sea  to  Colchis.  On 
the  way  Helle  fell  into  that  part  of  the  sea  which  bears 
her  name,  and  was  drowned ;  but  Phrixus  arrived  safely  in 
Colchis  (^Ea),  where  he  sacrificed  the  ram  to  Zeus,  who  had 
preserved  him  in  his  flight.  The  fleece  he  hung  up  in  the 
groves  of  Ares  as  a  sacred  treasure,  setting  over  it  a  terri- 
ble, ever-watchful  dragon  as  its  guardian.  To  fetch  this 
treasure  from  a  foreign  land,  and  thereby  to  release  the 


268          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

country  and  people  of  the  Minyge  from  the  calamity  with 
which  they  were  oppressed,  was  the  task  of  the  heroes  of 
the  race  of  ^Eolus.  Athamas  was  so  grieved  at  the  evil  he 
had  brought  on  his  country  that  he  became  insane,  and 
sought  to  slay  Ino  and  her  children.  He  did,  indeed,  kill 
Learchus  by  dashing  him  against  a  rock,  but  Ino  succeeded 
in  saving  herself  and  her  younger  child  Melicertes  by  leap- 
ing into  the  sea  (cf.  Ino  Leucothea).  Athamas  then  fled  to 
Epirus,  and  the  kingdom  devolved  on  his  brother  Cretheus. 
Cretheus  married  Tyro,  the  daughter  of  his  younger  broth- 
er Salmoneus,  King  of  Elis.  Tyro  bore  him  three  sons,  the 
eldest  of  whom,  ^Eson,  succeeded  his  father  in  the  king- 
dom, but  was  soon  after  expelled  by  his  step-brother  Pelias, 
who  is  described  as  a  son  of  Tyro  and  Poseidon.  ./Eson 
with  difficulty  managed  to  rescue  his  little  son  Jason  from 
the  hands  of  Pelias,  and  brought  him  to  the  Centaur  Chi- 
ron to  be  educated.  In  Chiron's  cave  the  young  hero  grew 
up  a  favorite  with  gods  and  men.  After  completing  his 
twentieth  year,  he  betook  himself  to  lolcus  to  demand  of 
his  uncle  his  rightful  inheritance.  Pelias,  not  daring  to  use 
violence  to  the  sturdy  youth,  endeavored  to  get  rid  of  his 
unwelcome  guest  by  involving  him  in  a  most  dangerous 
adventure.  He  declared  that  he  would  gladly  resign  the 
crown  if  Jason  would  recover  the  golden  fleece  from  Col- 
chis. Jason,  like  a  true  hero,  at  once  accepted  the  peril- 
ous adventure.  In  the  harbor  of  lolcus  he  caused  a  large 
ship  with  fifty  oars  to  be  constructed,  which  he  called  the 
"  Argo,"  after  its  builder,  Argus.  He  then  called  together 
the  heroes,  who  had  consented  at  his  invitation  to  take  part 
in  the  expedition.  In  the  original  version  of  the  story,  the 
expedition  was  stated  to  have  been  undertaken  only  by  the 
heroes  of  the  race  of  the  Minyse — such  as  Acastus,  Adme- 


UNDERTAKINGS  OF  THE  LATER  HEROIC  AGE.    269 

tus,  and  Periclymenus.  At  a  later  period,  however — when 
the  date  of  the  expedition  had  been  fixed  at  one  generation 
before  the  Trojan  war — no  hero  of  any  note  was  allowed 
to  be  absent  from  the  undertaking.  In  this  manner  were 
added  the  Dioscuri,  the  sons  of  Boreas,  Calais  and  Zetes, 
Telamon,  Peleus,  Meleager,  Tydeus,  Iphitus,  Theseus,  Or- 
pheus, Amphiaraus,  and  even  Heracles.  In  the  last  case, 
the  incongruity  of  allowing  the  hero  to  play  only  a  subor- 
dinate part  was  soon  felt,  and  his  name  was  withdrawn. 
He  was  said  to  have  been  left  behind  in  Mysia,  where  he 
had  landed  in  order  to  search  for  his  favorite  Hylas,  who 
had  been  carried  off  by  the  Naiads.  The  number  of  the 
Argonauts  was  finally  computed  at  fifty,  tallying  with  the 
number  of  oars. 

The  expedition  proceeded  from  lolcus  to  Lemnos,  and 
thence  through  the  Hellespont  to  Cyzicus,  where  they  were 
kindly  received  by  the  Doliones.  From  Cyzicus  they  pro- 
ceeded to  Bithynia,  where  they  were  opposed  by  the  Beb- 
ryces,  whose  king,  Amycus,  was  slain  by  Pollux  in  a  box- 
ing-match. Their  greatest  difficulty  lay  in  the  passage  of 
the  Bosporus,  there  being  at  the  entrance  of  the  Pontus 
(Black  Sea)  two  terrible  rocks,  which  were  in  constant  mo- 
tion— now  retreating  to  the  shore  on  either  side,  now  has- 
tily dashing  together  again ;  whence  they  were  called  the 
Symplegades.  This  occurred  so  rapidly  that  even  the 
swiftest  vessel  had  not  time  enough  to  get  through.  The 
Argonauts  were  in  great  perplexity.  At  length  the  blind 
seer  Phineus,  who  dwelt  in  Thracian  Salmydessus,  and 
whose  gratitude  they  won  by  delivering  him  from  the  Har- 
pies who  had  tormented  him,  assisted  them  with  his  advice. 
By  means  of  a  stratagem  he  recommended,  they  were  ena- 
bled to  bring  the  Argo  through  without  any  considerable 


270          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

damage,  after  which  the  Symplegades  remained  stationary. 
After  this  they  stood  along  the  south  coast  towards  then 
destination,  which,  in  the  original  legend,  appears  to  have 
been  the  utterly  fabulous  ^Ea,  subsequently  converted  into 
Colchis.  This  was  the  residence  of  the  mighty  King 
./Eetes,  a  son  of  the  sun-god.  To  rob  him,  either  by  craft 
or  by  violence,  of  the  golden  fleece  was  the  task  of  Jason, 
the  leader  of  the  Argonauts. 

The  second  prominent  character  in  the  story,  Medea,  the 
daughter  of  ^Eetes,  now  makes  her  appearance.  It  was  in 
fact  only  through  her  love  that  Jason  was  enabled  to  sur- 
mount the  vast  obstacles  which  stood  between  him  and  the 
possession  of  the  golden  fleece.  When  the  hero  demanded 
the  fleece  of  ^Eetes,  the  latter  declared  that  he  would  deliv- 
er it  up  to  him  after  he  had  accomplished  two  tasks.  The 
first  was  to  harness  two  brazen-footed,  fire-breathing  bulls, 
which  ^Eetes  had  received  from  Hephaestus,  to  a  plough,  and 
with  them  to  till  an  uncultivated  field.  The  second  was  to 
sow  in  the  furrows  the  dragon's  teeth  that  -^Eetes  would 
give  him,  and  to  destroy  the  armed  men  which  would  then 
spring  up.  Jason's  heart  failed  him  on  hearing  these  con- 
ditions, but  Medea,  Avho  was  an  enchantress  and  priestess 
of  Hecate,  was  equal  to  the  occasion.  She  gave  the  hero  a 
magic  salve  to  protect  him  against  the  fiery  breath  of  the 
bulls  and  to  endow  him  with  invincible  strength,  which  en- 
abled him  to  accomplish  his  first  task  successfully.  In  the 
case  of  the  armed  men  who  sprung  from  the  dragon's  teeth, 
by  the  advice  of  Medea  he  followed  the  example  of  Cad- 
mus, and  cast  among  them  a  heavy  stone,  whereupon  in 
blind  fury  they  turned  their  arms  against  each  other,  and 
were  all  destroyed. 

The  conditions  imposed  upon  him  by  JEetes  were  thus 


UNDERTAKINGS    OF    THE    LATER    HEROIC    AGE.         271 

accomplished ;  but  the  king,  who  perceived  that  Jason  had 
only  succeeded  through  the  aid  of  his  daughter,  made  this 
a  pretext  for  refusing  to  surrender  the  fleece.  Jason  then 
removed  it  by  night  from  the  grove  of  Ares,  after  Medea 
had,  by  means  of  her  enchantments,  lulled  the  watchful 
dragon  to  sleep.  That  same  night  the  Argonauts  embark- 
ed on  board  their  ship  and  put  to  sea,  Medea  accompa- 
nying them  as  the  future  wife  of  Jason.  The  wrathful 
.^Eetes  attempted  to  overtake  the  fugitives,  but  Medea  suc- 
ceeded in  staying  the  pursuit  by  slaying  her  younger  broth- 
er Apsyrtus,  whom  she  had  brought  with  her,  and  scatter- 
ing his  limbs  in  the  sea. 

The  most  diverse  accounts  exist  as  to  the  road  taken  by 
the  Argonauts  on  their  homeward  journey.  Some  say 
that  they  sailed  up  the  Phasis  to  the  Eastern  Sea,  and  then, 
passing  through  the  Red  Sea  and  Libyan  desert,  over  which 
they  had  to  carry  the  Argo  twelve  days'  journey,  came  to 
Lake  Tritonis,  and  thence  to  the  Mediterranean.  Accord- 
ing to  another  account,  they  sought  to  pass  through  the 
Ister  (Danube)  and  Eridanus  (Po)  to  the  Western  Ocean  ; 
but  the  object  of  this  account  was  manifestly  to  subject 
them  to  the  same  vicissitudes  and  adventures  as  Odysseus 
and  his  companions. 

At  length  Jason  landed  happily  in  lolcus,  and  delivered 
the  golden  fleece  into  the  hands  of  his  uncle.  Pelias,  how- 
ever, still  refused  to  surrender  the  kingdom  to  Jason,  and 
Medea  therefore  determined  to  make  away  with  him  by 
craft.  Having  persuaded  the  daughters  of  Pelias  that  she 
possessed  a  means  of  making  the  old  man  young  again,  she 
directed  them  to  slay  their  father,  cut  him  in  pieces,  and 
boil  the  limbs  in  a  caldron  filled  with  all  manner  of  herbs ; 
this  they  did  in  the  vain  expectation  of  seeing  him  restored 


272          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

to  youth.  Jason  now  took  possession  of  his  father's  king* 
doin,  but  was  soon  afterward  expelled  by  Acastus,  the  son 
of  Pelias,  and  took  refuge  in  Corinth.  His  subsequent 
misfortunes  are  well  known.  Thinking  to  better  his  con 
dition,  he  was  about  to  marry  Creiisa,  the  daughter  of  the 
King  of  Corinth,  when  he  was  arrested  by  the  fearful  ven- 
geance of  his  first  wife.  Medea  sent  the  bride  a  poisoned 
garment,  which  caused  her  to  die  an  agonizing  death,  and 
then  slew  her  own  children  by  Jason ;  after  which  she  fled 
in  her  chariot  drawn  by  winged  dragons  to  Athens,  where 
she  long  found  protection  at  the  court  of  ^Egeus.  Jason 
either  put  an  end  to  his  own  life,  or  was  killed  by  the  fall 
of  a  rotten  beam  of  the  Argo. 

3.  The  Theban  Cycle. — The  highly  tragic  history 
of  the  Theban  house  of  the  Labdacidse,  teeming  as  it  does 
with  important  characters  and  events,  has  at  all  times  fur- 
nished subjects  for  Greek  art  and  poetry,  and  has  given 
birth  to  a  whole  series  of  epic  and  dramatic  works.  The 
former,  which  would  have  conduced  far  more  to  an  exact 
acquaintance  with  the  legend,  have,  unfortunately,  perished, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  unimportant  fragments ;  al- 
though many  important  works  of  the  great  tragic  poets, 
^Eschylus,  Sophocles,  and  Euripides,  relating  to  the  subject, 
still  remain.  The  common  account  runs  thus :  Laius,  a 
great-grandson  of  Cadmus,  was  warned  by  the  oracle  to  be- 
get no  children,  as  he  was  doomed  to  perish  by  the  hand? 
of  his  son,  who  would  then  marry  his  mother.  When  his 
wife  locaste  gave  birtli  to  a  son,  Laius  accordingly  exposed 
the  child,  with  its  feet  pierced,  on  Mount  Cithseron.  The 
child,  called  CEdipus  from  the  swelling  of  its  feet,  did  not 
die,  but  was  found  by  some  Corinthian  shepherds,  who 


UNDERTAKINGS  OF  THE  LATER  HEROIC  AGE.    273 

brought  it  to  Polybus,  King  of  Corinth.  Polybus,  having 
no  children  of  his  own,  adopted  CEdipus,  who  grew  up  in 
the  belief  that  Polybus  and  Merope  were  his  real  parents, 
until  one  day  a  taunt  of  his  companions  as  to  his  mysteri- 
ous origin  raised  doubts  in  his  mind.  In  order  to  solve  his 
misgivings,  he  went  to  consult  the  oracle  of  Delphi,  but 
he  here  received  only  the  obscure  direction  not  to  return 
to  his  country,  since,  if  he  did,  he  would  kill  his  father  and 
marry  his  mother.  Fearing  on  this  account  to  return  to 
Corinth,  he  took  the  road  to  Thebes,  and  thus,  by  his  pre- 
sumptuous prudence,  brought  about  the  very  consequences 
he  was  so  anxious  to  avoid.  On  the  road  he  was  met  by 
Laius,  who  was  on  his  way  to  the  oracle  to  ask  its  advice 
concerning  the  Sphinx.  A  quarrel  arose,  in  a  narrow  de- 
file, between  Laius  and  (Edipus ;  and  (Edipus  slew  his  fa- 
ther without  knowing  who  he  was.  On  arriving  at  Thebes 
he  succeeded  in  delivering  the  country  from  the  Sphinx. 
This  monster,  which  had  the  combined  form  of  a  woman 
and  a  lion,  had  been  sent  by  Hera,  whom  Laius  had  in  some 
way  offended,  from  ^Ethiopia  to  devastate  the  land  of 
Thebes.  Seated  on  a  rock  close  to  the  town,  she  put  to 
every  one  that  passed  by  the  celebrated  riddle — What  walks 
on  four  legs  in  the  morning,  on  two  legs  at  noon,  and  on 
three  in  the  evening?  Whoever  was  unable  to  solve  this 
riddle  was  cast  by  the  Sphinx  from  the  rock  into  a  deep 
abyss.  This  calamity  induced  Creon,  on  the  death  of  his 
brother-in-law  Laius,  to  proclaim  that  whoever  solved  the 
riddle  should  obtain  the  crown  and  the  hand  of  locaste. 
(Edipus  succeeded  in  solving  it,  and  thus  delivered  the 
country  from  the  monster,  who  cast  herself  into  the  abyss. 

The  origin  of  the  myth  of  the  Sphinx  was  not  definitely  known 
even  to  the  ancients.     The  Sphinx  itself  was  probably  a  religious 

18 


274          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

symbol  of  the  Egyptians,  which  was  transferred  to  Greece,  and  sub- 
sequently underwent  a  cnange  of  meaning.  Among  the  Egyptians 
the  Sphinx  seems  to  have  been  a  symbol  of  royal  dignity,  betokening 
a  combination  of  wisdom  and  strength ;  by  the  Greeks,  however,  it 
appears  to  have  been  regarded  as  a  symbol  of  the  burning,  pesti- 
lence-breeding heat  of  the  summer  sun.  The  form,  which  was  that 
of  a  lion,  generally  in  a  recumbent  position,  with  the  breast  and  up- 
per  part  of  a  beautiful  woman,  was  in  imitation  of  the  original  male 
Sphinxes  of  Egypt.  Ancient  Egyptian  art  revelled  in  the  creation 
of  colossal  Sphinxes,  which  were  carved  out  of  granite.  A  notable 
example  of  this  kind  exists  in  the  giant  Sphinx  near  the  Pyramids  of 
Gizeh,  which  is  eighty-nine  feet  long.  From  such  monstrous  figures 
as  these  Greek  art  held  aloof.  Moreover,  Greek  art  was  only  ac- 
quainted with  the  Sphinx  in  its  female  form,  and  departed  from  the 
Egyptian  type  by  adding  wings  to  the  lion's  body. 

(Edipus  was  rewarded  with  the  sovereignty  of  Thebes 
and  the  hand  of  locaste ;  and  for  several  years  he  enjoyed 
uninterrupted  happiness,  surrounded  by  four  blooming 
children,  the  fruit  of  his  incestuous  marriage.  By  the  se- 
cret agency  of  the  goddess,  the  dreadful  truth  was  at  length 
discovered.  locaste  hanged  herself,  and  (Edipus,  in  de- 
spair, put  out  his  own  eyes.  Not  content  with  this  volun- 
tary penance,  the  hard-hearted  Thebans  compelled  him,  be- 
sides, to  leave  their  city  and  country,  while  his  sons  Eteo- 
cles  and  Polynices,  who  were  now  grown  up,  refused  to  stir 
a  foot  in  their  father's  behalf.  (Edipus,  after  invoking  bit- 
ter curses  on  their  heads,  withdrew,  and,  guided  by  his 
faithful  daughter  Antigone,  at  last  found  an  asylum  in  the 
grove  of  the  Eumenides  at  Colonus,  near  Athens.  His 
grave  there  was  regarded,  in  consequence  of  an  ancient 
response  of  the  oracle,  as  a  national  treasure. 

The  curse  of  their  father  took  effect  on  his  unnatural 
sons.  The  elder,  Eteocles,  drove  out  his  brother  Polynices, 
who  then  sought  the  assistance  of  Adrastus,  King  of  Argos, 
Adrastus  was  a  grandson  of  Bias,  of  the  race  of  the  Amy 


UNDERTAKINGS  OF  THE  LATER  HEROIC  AGE.    275 

thaonidae,  and  by  his  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  the 
wealthy  Polybus  acquired  the  sovereignty  of  Sicyon.     He 
not  only  hospitably  received  the  fugitive  Polynices,  but 
gave  him  his  daughter  in  marriage,  and  promised  to  assist 
him  in  recovering  the  crown  of  Thebes.     In  this  expedi- 
tion Adrastus  sought  to  gain  the  aid  of  the  other  Argive 
heroes.     They  all  declared  their  readiness  to  accompany 
him,  with  the  exception  of  Amphiaraus,  his  brother-in-law, 
who  was  equally  renowned  for  his  wisdom  and  courage. 
Amphiaraus  was  a  great-grandson  of  the  celebrated  seer 
Melampus,  and  inherited  from  him  the  gift  of  prophecy. 
He  was  thus  enabled  to  perceive  the  disastrous  termination 
of  the  war,  and  strove  to  hinder  it.     But  Polynices  and 
the  fiery  Tydeus — likewise  a  son-in-law  of  Adrastus — were 
so  unceasing  in  their  entreaties,  that  he  at  length  sought  to 
escape  their  importunity  by  flight.     Polynices,  however, 
bribed  his  wife  Eriphyle,  by  the  present  of  a  magnificent 
necklace,  which  had  formerly  been  given  to  Harmonia  on 
the  occasion  of  her  marriage  with  Cadmus,  to  betray  his 
place  of  concealment.     Hereupon  Amphiaraus  was  obliged 
unwillingly  to  join  the  expedition,  which  ended  as  he  had 
prophesied.     The  attack  on  Thebes  was  not  only  repulsed, 
but  all  the  Argive  leaders,  with  the  exception  of  Adrastus, 
who  was  saved  by  the  fleetness  of  his  horse,  were  slain. 
Polynices  and  Etcocles  fell  in  single  combat  with  each  oth- 
er.    The  flight  of  Adrastus  to  Attica,  where  he  procured 
the  assistance  of  Theseus  in  compelling  the  Thebans  to 
grant  the  fallen  heroes  a  solemn  burial,  is  a  feature  un- 
known to  the  original  legend,  and  may  be  ascribed  to  tne 
patriotic  impulses  of  the  Athenian  dramatists.     The  ceta 
brated  tragedy  of  Sophocles,  called  "Antigone,"  is  based  on 
the  assumption  that  Creon,  the  new  King  of  Thebes,  allow- 


26  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

3d  the  burial  of  the  other  heroes,  but  left  Polynices  to  lie 
unburied  on  the  field  like  a  dog,  and  condemned  Antigone 
to  death  because  she  ventured  to  bury  her  brother  in  de- 
spite of  his  command.  Creon  was  destined  to  meet  with 
a  dreadful  retribution,  for  his  own  son,  who  was  betrothed 
to  Antigone,  killed  himself  in  grief  at  her  fate. 

Ten  years  later,  the  sons  of  the  fallen  heroes  are  said 
to  have  combined  with  ^Egialeus,  the  son  of  Adrastus,  to 
avenge  their  father's  defeat.  This  expedition  has  there- 
fore been  called  the  war  of  the  Epigoni  (descendants),  and 
not  being  undertaken,  like  that  of  their  fathers,  in  mani- 
fest opposition  to  the  will  of  the  gods,  proved  successful. 
Laodamas,  the  savage  son  of  Eteocles,  who  was  now  King 
of  Thebes,  was  defeated  in  a  decisive  battle  near  Thebes, 
and,  after  ^Egialeus  had  fallen  by  his  hands,  was  himself 
slain  by  Alcmaeon,  the  son  of  Amphiaraus.  The  Thebans 
were  unable  any  longer  to  hold  their  city,  and,  following 
the  advice  of  the  blind  seer  Tiresias,  they  withdrew  under 
the  cover  of  darkness  and  mist.  The  aged  Tiresias  expired 
on  the  road,  at  the  fountain  of  Tilphusa ;  of  the  rest  some 
took  refuge  in  Thessalia,  and  some  sought  other  lands. 
The  victorious  Argives,  after  plundering  and  partly  de- 
stroying the  city,  dedicated  a  great  portion  of  the  booty — 
among  which  was  Manto,  the  daughter  of  Tiresias — to  the 
oracle  of  Delphi.  They  then  made  Thersander,  the  son  of 
Polynices,  King  of  Thebes ;  upon  which  many  of  the  fugi- 
tive inhabitants  returned.  Thersander  subsequently  took 
part  in  the  Trojan  war,  and  there  perished. 

4.  The  Trojan  Cycle.— -We  now  come  to  the  Trojan 
war,  the  fourth  and  most  celebrated  of  the  common  under- 
takings of  the  later  heroic  age.  Here  the  sources  of  our 


UNDERTAKINGS  OF  THE  LATER  HEROIC  AGE.    277 

information  are  far  more  plentiful  than  in  any  former  pe- 
riod of  mythic  history,  because  both  the  grand  national 
epics,  the  "  Iliad  "  and  the  "  Odyssey,"  which  are  commonly 
ascribed  to  Homer,  relate  to  the  Trojan  war.  As  the  con- 
tents of  these  immortal  poems  are  probably  well  known  to 
our  readers,  we  shall  only  dwell  on  the  most  essential  feat- 
ures of  the  story. 

I.  THE  HEROIC  RACES  OF  THE  TROJAN  WAR. — 1.  The 
Dardanidce,  or  Race  of  Dardanus. — The  royal  family  of 
Troy  were  descended  from  Dardanus,  a  son  of  Zeus  by 
Electra,  a  daughter  of  Atlas.  Dardanus  is  said  to  have 
emigrated  from  Samothrace,  or,  according  to  others,  from 
Italy  or  Arcadia,  to  the  north-west  portion  of  Asia  Minor, 
between  the  range  of  Ida  and  the  Hellespont,  where  he  re- 
ceived from  King  Teucer  some  land  to  form  a  settlement. 
By  a  daughter  of  the  river-god  Simoi's,  or,  as  others  say,  of 
Scamander,  Dardanus  had  a  son  called  Tros,  from  whom 
the  Trojans  derived  their  name.  Tros  had  three  sons — 
Assaracus,  Ilus,  and  Ganymedes.  The  last,  who,  like  all 
the  scions  of  the  race  of  Dardanus,  was  possessed  of  won- 
derful beauty,  was  raised  by  Zeus  to  the  dignity  of  cup- 
bearer to  the  gods,  and  thus  became  immortal.  Ilus  and 
Assaracus  became  the  founders  of  two  different  branches 
of  the  Dardanian  race.  The  latter  remained  in  his  native 
settlement  of  Dardania,  where  he  became  the  father  of  Ca- 
pys  and  the  grandfather  of  Anchises,  the  father  of  ^Eneas. 
Ilus,  on  the  other  hand,  emigrated  to  the  plains  of  the 
Scamander,  where  he  founded  the  city  of  Ilium,  or  Troy. 
After  completing  the  town,  he  begged  Zeus  to  bestow  on 
him  a  sign  of  his  favor.  The  next  morning  he  found  in 
front  of  his  tent  the  celebrated  Palladium — an  image  of 
Pallas  Athene,  carved  in  wood.  On  the  possession  of  thia 


278         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

depended  the  fortune  and  welfare  of  the  city.  After  the 
death  of  Tins,  his  son  Laomedon  became  king  of  Troy.  At 
his  request,  Poseidon  and  Apollo  built  the  citadel  of  Per- 
gamum.  We  have  already  related  how  this  king,  by  his 
faithless  conduct,  provoked  the  wrath  of  Heracles,  and  the 
first  capture  of  the  city.  Of  his  sons  only  Priam  remain- 
ed ;  in  him  the  race  of  Dardanus  flourished  afresh,  for  by 
his  wife  Hecuba  and  by  his  concubines  he  had  a  great 
number  of  sons  and  daughters. 

2.  The  Pelopidoe,  or  Race  of  Pelops. — The  Pelopidse,  who 
were  chiefly  instrumental  in  the  destruction  of  Troy,  were 
descended  from  the  Phrygian  king  Tantalus,  who  was  re- 
nowned alike  for  his  unexampled  good  fortune  and  his  sub- 
sequent unhappy  fate.  He  was  the  son  of  Zeus  and  Pluto 
(rich  plenty),  and  inhabited  a  citadel  on  Mount  Sipylus, 
whence  his  rich  pasture -lands  and  fruitful  cornfields  ex- 
tended twelve  days'  journey,  as  far  as  Ida  and  the  Propon- 
tis.  The  very  gods  honored  him  with  their  friendship, 
and  lived  on  such  intimate  terms  that  they  invited  him  to 
eat  at  their  table.  This  unheard-of  good  fortune,  however, 
begot  in  the  puny  mortal  such  presumption,  that  he  began 
to  indulge  in  the  grossest  outrages  on  gods  and  men.  At 
length  he  went  so  far  as  to  cut  his  son  Pelops  in  pieces  to 
boil  them,  and  set  them  before  the  gods  in  order  to  test 
their  omniscience.  The  cup  of  his  iniquity  now  seemed 
full,  and  the  gods  brought  down  a  heavy  retribution  on  the 
head  of  the  criminal.  As  to  the  manner  in  which  Tanta- 
lus lost  his  life  and  kingdom  tradition  leaves  us  in  total 
obscurity.  The  common  story  only  relates  his  well-known 
punishment  in  the  lower  world,  where,  though  surrounded 
by  the  most  delicious  fruits  and  standing  up  to  his  neck 
in  water,  he  was  nevertheless  condemned  to  suffer  the 


UNDERTAKINGS    OF    THE    LATER    HEROIC    AGE.         279 

pangs  of  continual  hunger  and  thirst.  Another  tradition 
relates  that  he  was  kept  in  constant  anxiety  by  a  huge 
rock  which  was  suspended  over  his  head. 

The  children  of  Tantalus  were  Pelops  and  Niobe.  The 
unhappy  fate  of  the  latter  has  already  been  described  in 
the  mythic  history  of  Thebes.  Pelops  was  restored  to 
life  by  the  art  of  Hermes ;  and  a  portion  of  his  shoulder, 
which  had  been  consumed  by  Demeter,  was  replaced  by 
the  gods  with  a  piece  of  ivory.  Pelops  is  said  to  have 
grown  up  in  Olympus,  among  the  blessed  gods.  On  being 
restored  to  earth,  he  proceeded  to  Elis,  where  he  became  a 
suitor  for  the  hand  of  Hippodamia,  the  beautiful  daugh- 
ter of  the  king  (Enomaus.  The  latter  had  promised  his 
daughter  to  the  man  who  should  vanquish  him  in  a  chariot- 
race  :  whoever  failed  was  obliged  to  expiate  his  temerity 
with  his  life,  as  CEnomaiis  transfixed  him  with  his  unerring 
lance  as  he  passed.  Thirteen  noble  youths  had  already 
suffered  this  fate,  when  Pelops  appeared  to  undergo  the 
dangerous  ordeal.  By  means  of  the  untiring  winged 
horses  which  had  been  given  him  by  Poseidon,  and  also  by 
bribing  Myrtilus,  the  king's  charioteer — who,  before  start- 
ing, withdrew  the  linch-pins  from  his  master's  chariot  or 
replaced  them  with  wax — he  came  off  victorious.  CEno- 
maiis either  was  killed  by  the  breaking-down  of  his  char- 
iot, or  put  an  end  to  his  own  life  on  seeing  himself  van- 
quished. Pelops  now  obtained  both  Hippodamia  and  the 
kingdom  of  Elis ;  but  he  ill  rewarded  Myrtilus,  who  had 
rendered  him  such  valuable  service,  by  casting  him  into 
the  sea,  in  order  to  release  himself  from  his  obligations. 
Hermes,  whose  son  he  is  reputed  to  have  been,  set  him 
among  the  stars  as  charioteer. 

The  sons  of  Pelops  by  Hippodamia  were  Atreus  and 


280  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

Thyestes,  whose  history,  which  is  full  of  the  most  revolt- 
ing crimes,  formed  a  favorite  subject  with  the  tragic  poets. 
Indeed,  they  appear  to  have  invented  most  of  the  iniquities 
of  the  Pelopidse,  as  there  is  no  mention  of  them  in  Ho- 
mer. First  Atreus  and  Thyestes  murdered  their  step-broth- 
er Chrysippus,  and  were  compelled  to  leave  their  country 
in  company  with  their  mother.  They  were  hospitably 
received  at  Mycenae  by  their  brother-in-law  Sthenelus,  the 
son  of  Perseus,  or  by  his  son  Eurystheus.  On  Eurystheus's 
death,  they  inherited  the  sovereignty  of  the  Persida?  in  Ar- 
gos,  and  Atreus  now  took  up  his  residence  in  the  proud 
capital  of  Mycenae,  whence,  strange  to  say,  the  most  an- 
cient specimen  of  Greek  sculpture  has  come  down  to  us  in 
the  so-called  Gate  of  Lions.  Soon  an  implacable  enmity 
arose  between  the  two  brothers,  and  Thyestes,  in  conse- 
quence, was  banished  from  Argos.  He  took  with  him,  in 
revenge,  Pleisthenes,  the  young  son  of  Atreus,  brought 
him  up  as  his  own  son,  and  despatched  him,  later,  to 
Mycenae  to  kill  Atreus.  His  design  was  discovered,  and 
he  expiated  his  intended  crime  with  his  life.  When 
Atreus  learned  that  it  was  his  own  son  whom  he  had 
condemned  to  death,  he  determined  on  a  dreadful  re- 
venge. Pretending  to  be  reconciled,  he  recalled  Thyestes 
and  his  children  to  Mycenae  ;  and  Thyestes,  trusting  to  his 
brother's  word,  returned.  Atreus  then  privately  seized  the 
two  young  sons  of  Thyestes,  slew  them,  and  set  this  horri- 
ble food  before  their  father.  Horror-struck  at  this  inhu- 
man cruelty,  the  sun  turned  his  chariot  and  went  back  in 
his  course.  Thyestes,  uttering  fearful  curses  against  his 
brother  and  the  whole  race  of  the  Pelopidae,  again  escaped, 
and  took  refuge  with  Thesprotus,  King  of  Epirus.  Later, 
he  succeeded,  with  the  help  of  his  only  remaining  son 


UNDERTAKINGS  OF  THE  LATER  HEROIC  AGE.    281 

^Egisthus,  in  avenging  himself  on  his  brother.  Atreus 
was  slain  by  ^Egisthus  while  offering  up  a  sacrifice  on  the 
sea-shore,  and  Thyestes  now  acquired  the  sovereignty  of 
Mycenae.  The  sons  of  Atreus,  Agamemnon  and  Menelaxis, 
fled  from  their  barbarous  uncle  to  Sparta,  where  Tyndareiis, 
"the  king,  received  them  kindly,  and  gave  them  his  daugh 
ters,  Clytaemnestra  and  Helen,  in  marriage.  With  his  aid 
Agamemnon  recovered  his  father's  kingdom,  slew  Thy- 
estes, and  drove  out  ^Egisthus.  Menelaiis  remained  in 
Sparta — where  he  succeeded  Tyndareiis — until  the  carry- 
ing-off  of  his  wife  Helen  by  Paris  gave  rise  to  the  Trojan 
war. 

3.  The  ~&acidce,  or  Race  of  ^Eacus. — After  the  sons  of 
Atreus,  the  ^Eacidae  play  the  most  important  part  in  the 
Trojan  war ;  in  fact,  we  are  almost  justified  in  saying  that 
the  war  was  an  exploit  of  these  two  races  of  heroes  and 
their  peoples,  the  Achseans  of  Argos  and  the  Hellenes  of 
Phthia.  The  ancestor  of  the  yEacida3  was  ^Eacus,  who 
was  renowned  alike  for  his  wisdom  and  justice,  and  on 
this  account  subsequently  made  a  judge  in  the  lower 
world.  ^Eacus  was  a  son  of  Zeus  by  ^Egina,  a  daughter 
of  the  river -god  Asopus.  He  ruled  over  the  island  of 
./Egina,  and  married  Endei's,  the  daughter  of  the  wise  Cen- 
taur Chiron.  She  bore  him  two  sons,  Peleus  and  Tela- 
mon.  On  reaching  manhood  they  were  compelled  to 
leave  their  country,  because,  like  the  sons  of  Pelops,  they 
had  murdered,  in  a  fit  of  jealousy,  a  step-brother  who  was 
a  favorite  with  their  father.  Peleus  betook  himself  to 
Phthia,  where  he  was  kindly  received  by  Eurytion,  who 
bestowed  on  him  the  hand  of  his  daughter  and  a  third 
part  of  his  kingdom.  Peleus  afterward  took  part  in  the 
boar  hunt  of  Calydon,  on  which  occasion  he  had  the  mis- 


282          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

fortune  to  kill  his  father-in-law.  In  consequence  of  this, 
he  left  Phthia  and  proceeded  to  lolcus,  where  he  took  part 
in  the  funeral  games  which  Acastus  was  celebrating  in 
honor  of  his  father  Pelias,  who  had  perished  by  the  treach- 
ery of  Medea.  Here  he  experienced  a  similar  fate  to  that 
of  Bellerophon  at  the  court  of  Proetus.  Astydameia,  the 
wife  of  Acastus,  finding  herself  unable  to  seduce  him, 
slandered  him  to  her  husband,  who  thereupon  sought  to 
take  his  life.  After  hunting  on  Pelion  one  day,  Peleus 
fell  asleep,  and  was  left  thus  unprotected  by  Acastus,  who 
hoped  by  this  means  to  get  rid  of  him.  He  would,  indeed, 
have  been  murdered  by  the  Centaurs,  if  the  gods  had  not 
taken  pity  on  him,  and  sent  him  by  Hermes  a  sword  of 
wonderful  power,  with  which  he  was  enabled  to  repel  the 
assaults  of  the  wild  inhabitants  of  the  forest.  Peleus,  with 
the  help  of  the  Dioscuri,  subsequently  took  lolcus,  and  put 
the  treacherous  Acastus  and  his  wife  to  death.  As  a  reward 
for  his  chastity,  the  gods  gave  him  the  goddess  Thetis — a 
beautiful  daughter  of  Nereus — to  wife.  She  bore  him  one 
son,  Achilleus  (Achilles),  the  greatest  and  bravest  hero  of 
the  Trojan  war.  A  later  tradition  asserts  that  Thetis  left 
her  husband  soon  after  the  birth  of  Achilles,  because  he 
had  disturbed  her  when  she  was  about  to  render  her  child 
immortal  in  the  fire,  just  as  Demeter  intended  to  do  to  the 
child  of  Celeiis;  but  this  story  is  unknown  to  Ilorner. 
According  to  a  still  later  legend,  she  plunged  her  son  into 
the  Styx,  and  thereby  rendered  him  invulnerable  in  every 
part  except  the  heel  by  which  she  held  him.  Like  all  no- 
ble heroes,  Achilles  was  instructed  by  Chiron,  under  whom 
he  acquired  such  wonderful  skill  in  all  feats  of  strength 
and  agility  that  he  soon  surpassed  all  his  contemporaries. 
In  addition  to  Chiron,  Homer  names  Phoenix,  the  son  oi 


UNDERTAKINGS    OF    THE    LATER    HEROIC    AGE.         283 

Amyntor,  as  the  instructor  of  the  youthful  hero.  Achilles 
proceeded  to  the  Trojan  war  with  cheerful  determination, 
although  he  knew  beforehand  that  he  was  not  fated  to  re- 
turn alive.  The  story  that  his  mother  Thetis,  in  order  to 
avert  his  fate,  sent  him,  disguised  in  women's  clothes,  to 
the  court  of  Lycomedes,  King  of  Scyros,  where  he  was 
discovered  by  the  craft  of  Odysseus,  is  a  post -Homeric 
invention. 

From  Telamon,  the  second  son  of  ^Eacus,  was  descended 
Aias  or  Ajax,  a  hero  of  but  little  less  importance.  Tela- 
mon, after  his  flight  from  -^Egina,  found  a  new  home  in 
Salamis,  where  he  married  the  daughter  of  the  king  Cy- 
chreus.  On  the  decease  of  Cychreus,  he  succeeded  to  the 
crown.  After  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  he  married  Per- 
iboea,  a  daughter  of  Alcathoiis,  King  of  Megara,  who  bore 
him  Ajax.  Tradition  tells  us  much  of  the  intimate  friend- 
ship of  Heracles  and  Telamon,  who  took  part  in  the  Tro- 
jan expedition  of  his  mighty  friend.  Heracles,  in  return, 
gave  him  Hesione,  the  daughter  of  Laomedon,  by  whom 
he  became  the  father  of  a  second  son,  Teucer.  Like  every 
celebrated  hero  of  antiquity,  he  is  said  to  have  taken  part 
in  the  Calydonian  hunt  and  the  expedition  of  the  Argo- 
nauts. Nothing  inferior  to  this  brave  and  doughty  father 
was  his  son  Ajax,  on  whom  the  mighty  hero  Heracles  had 
invoked  the  blessing  of  his  father  Zeus,  when  as  a  child  he 
held  him  in  his  arms.  He  was  of  greater  size  and  strength 
than  any  of  the  other  heroes ;  though  he  appears  some- 
what uncouth  and  clumsy  when  contrasted  with  the  swift 
and  agile  form  of  Achilles.  His  mighty  shield  was  as 
characteristic  of  him  as  the  ponderous  deadly  spear  was  of 
Achilles.  Beside  him,  his  brother  Teucer  ranks  as  the  best 
archer  among  the  Greeks. 


284  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

4.  Nestor,  the  Locrian  Ajax,  Diomedes,  and  Odysseus. — • 
Associated  with  the  heroes  of  the  race  of  Pelops  and 
^Eacus  were  some  other  renowned  chieftains.  First  among 
them  was  the  aged  Nestor,  of  Pylus,  whose  wise  counsels 
were  as  indispensable  to  the  Greeks  before  Troy  as  the 
dauntless  courage  of  an  Achilles  or  an  Ajax.  Nestor  was 
the  youngest  of  the  twelve  sons  of  Neleus,  who  was  him- 
self a  son  of  Poseidon  and  Tyro,  and  twin  brother  of  Pe- 
lias.  Neleus,  having  been  driven  out  by  Pelias,  took  ref- 
uge in  Messenia,  where  he  became  the  founder  of  a  new 
kingdom.  Later,  however,  both  his  sovereignty  and  the 
glory  of  his  house  were  wellnigh  extinguished  by  the  hos- 
tility of  Heracles,  who  slew  all  the  sons  of  Neleus  except 
Nestor.  When  quite  young,  Nestor  defeated  the  neighbor- 
ing tribes  of  the  Epei  and  Arcadians,  and  restored  the  do- 
minions of  his  father  to  their  former  extent.  He  likewise 
took  part  in  the  contest  between  the  Lapithse  and  the  Cen- 
taurs, in  the  Calydonian  boar  hunt,  and  in  the  expedition 
of  the  Argonauts.  Though  so  far  advanced  in  years — hav- 
ing ruled  over  three  generations  of  men  —  he  could  not 
withstand  the  desire  to  take  part  in  the  Trojan  war. 

The  Locrian  Ajax  —  also  called  the  Lesser  Ajax,  to  dis- 
tinguish him  from  his  mighty  namesake — was  a  son  of  the 
Locrian  king  Oileus,  of  whom  nothing  more  is  known  than 
that  he  took  part  in  the  expedition  of  the  Argonauts. 
Ajax  was  renowned  among  the  Greeks  for  his  skill  in  hurl- 
ing the  spear  and  for  his  great  fleetness,  in  which  he  was 
surpassed  only  by  Achilles.  He  always  appears  in  a  linen 
corselet,  and  his  followers,  the  Opuntian  Locrians,  are  also 
light-armed  troops. 

Diomedes  was  a  member  of  the  oft-mentioned  race  of 
the  ^Eolian  AmythaonidtB.  His  father  was  the  hot-headed 


UNDERTAKINGS  OF  THE  LATER  HEROIC  AGE.    285 

Tydeus,  who  was  killed  in  the  war  of  the  Seven  against 
Thebes.  Diomedes,  who  inherited  no  small  portion  of  his 
father's  wild,  untamable  disposition,  of  course  took  part 
in  the  war  of  the  Epigoni,  and  subsequently  succeeded  his 
grandfather  Adrastus  in  his  Argive  sovereignty  at  Sicyon. 
He  also  restored  his  paternal  grandfather,  the  aged  ^Etolian 
king  GEneus,  who  had  been  dethroned  by  the  sons  of  his 
brother  Agrius,  to  his  kingdom.  In  the  " Iliad"  he  appears 
as  a  special  favorite  of  Pallas  Athene,  and  Homer  makes 
him  play  an  important  part  in  the  contests  of  the  Greeks 
before  the  walls  of  Troy.  In  post-Homeric  story  he  is  rep- 
resented as  having  carried  off  the  Trojan  Palladium. 

Finally,  Odysseus  (Ulysses),  the  most  popular  of  the 
Greek  heroes  of  the  Trojan  war,  was  a  son  of  Laertes,  King 
of  Ithaca,  by  Anticlea,  the  daughter  of  Autolycus.  Autoly- 
cus  inhabited  a  district  on  Mount  Parnassus,  and  was  re- 
nowned for  his  cunning.  His  grandson  seems  to  have  in- 
herited no  small  part  of  his  grandfather's  disposition. 
Through  his  noble  and  virtuous  wife  Penelope,  Odysseus 
was  closely  related  to  the  Atridse,  Penelope  being  the 
daughter  of  Icarins,  who  was  a  brother  of  the  Spartan  king 
Tyndareiis.  He  was  therefore  obliged  —  though  much 
against  his  will — to  comply  with  the  request  of  Menelaiis, 
and  join  the  expedition  against  Troy.  On  account  of  his 
wisdom  and  eloquence,  his  dexterity  in  all  feats  of  strength, 
and  his  dauntless  valor  in  the  midst  of  danger,  he  also  was 
a  special  favorite  of  Pallas. 

II.  THE  WAR. — The  "  Iliad  "  of  Homer,  the  most  impor- 
tant source  of  our  information  with  regard  to  the  Trojan 
war,  does  not  deal  with  the  events  of  the  first  nine  years ; 
and  of  those  of  the  tenth  and  last  year  it  only  gives  such 
episodes  as  relate  to  the  quarrel  of  Achilles  and  Agamem- 


286  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

non.  Of  the  origin  of  the  war,  and  the  events  of  the  first 
nine  years,  it  speaks  only  incidentally,  for  the  sake  of  ex- 
planation. The  gap  has  to  be  filled  up  from  the  works  of 
those  writers  who  had  access  to  other  epic  poems  of  the 
Trojan  cycle,  which  are  now  no  longer  extant. 

Eris,  the  goddess  of  discord,  not  having  been  invited  to 
the  marriage  festivities  of  Peleus  and  Thetis,  avenged  her- 
self by  casting  into  the  assembly  a  golden  apple,  with  the 
inscription,  "  To  the  fairest."  The  three  rival  goddesses 
— Hera,  Athene,  and  Aphrodite — each  claimed  the  apple 
for  herself,  but  were  referred  by  Zeus  to  the  decision  of 
Paris.  Paris  was  a  son  of  Priam,  the  Trojan  king.  Im- 
mediately after  birth  he  was  exposed  on  Mount  Ida,  in  con- 
sequence of  an  ill-omened  dream  which  his  mother  Hecuba 
had  during  her  pregnancy.  He  was  found,  however,  and 
brought  up  by  some  shepherds.  He  decided  in  favor  of 
Aphrodite,  who  had  promised  him  the  most  beautiful  wom- 
an on  earth  as  his  wife.  Soon  afterward,  at  some  games 
given  by  the  king,  the  youth,  who  was  equally  distinguish- 
ed for  his  handsome  person  and  his  bodily  dexterity,  after 
having  wrested  the  prize  from  all  his  brethren,  was  recog- 
nized by  the  prophetess  Cassandra,  and  received  into  his 
father's  favor.  He  next  undertook  a  journey  across  the 
sea  to  Greece,  and,  among  other  places,  visited  the  court  of 
Menelaiis,  King  of  Sparta,  by  whom  he  was  hospitably  re- 
ceived and  entertained.  Aphrodite  kindled  in  the  breast 
of  the  young  wife  of  Menelaus  a  fatal  love  for  their  hand- 
some guest,  who  dazzled  her  as  much  by  the  beauty  of  his 
person  as  by  the  Oriental  splendor  of  his  appearance. 
While  Menelaus  was  absent  in  Crete,  and  her  brothers, 
the  Dioscuri,  were  engaged  in  their  strife  with  the  sons  of 
Aphareus,  Helen  fled  with  her  seducer  to  Troy.  On  the 


UNDERTAKINGS    OF   THE    LATER    HEROIC    AGE.         287 

refusal  of  the  King  of  Troy  to  surrender  Helen,  Menelaiis 
succeeded  in  rousing  the  whole  of  Greece  to  a  war  of  re- 
venge. This  task  was  the  more  easy,  as  most  of  the  Gre- 
cian chieftains  had  been  suitors  of  Helen,  and  had  bound 
themselves  by  an  oath  to  Tyndareiis  to  unite  in  support 
of  the  husband  whom  Helen  should  choose,  in  the  event 
of  his  ever  being  injured  or  attacked.  The  well-manned 
ships  of  the  Greeks  assembled  in  the  Boeotian  port  of 
Aulis.  Their  number  amounted  to  eleven  hundred  and 
eighty-six,  according  to  Homer;  of  which  Agamemnon, 
who  had  been  chosen  leader  of  the  expedition,  alone  fur- 
nished over  one  hundred.  Agamemnon,  however,  having 
offended  Artemis,  by  killing  a  hind  sacred  to  the  goddess, 
the  departure  of  the  expedition  was  delayed  by  continuous 
calms,  until  at  length,  at  the  command  of  the  priest  Cal- 
chas,  Agamemnon  determined  to  appease  the  wrath  of  the 
goddess  by  sacrificing  his  daughter  Iphigenia  on  her  altar. 
At  the  fatal  moment  Artemis  rescued  the  victim,  and,  af- 
ter substituting  a  hind  in  her  stead,  conveyed  Iphigenia 
to  Tauris,  where  she  became  a  priestess  in  the  temple  of 
the  goddess.  The  fleet  now  sailed  with  a  fair, wind.  The 
expedition  first  stopped  at  Tenedos,  opposite  the  coast  of 
Troy.  Here,  on  the  occasion  of  a  banquet,  Philoctetes, 
who  possessed  the  bow  and  arrows  of  Heracles  on  which 
the  conquest  of  Troy  depended,  was  bitten  in  the  foot  by 
a  serpent,  and  on  account  of  his  cries  and  the  offensive 
smell  of  the  wound  was  carried  to  Lemnos,  and  there  left 
to  his  fate.  The  Greeks  next  effected  a  landing  on  the 
coast  of  Troy,  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  Hector  and 
^Eneas ;  for  Protesilaiis  devoted  himself  to  death  for  the 
Greeks,  and  sprung  first  on  the  Trojan  shore.  Even  Cyc- 
nus,  the  mighty  son  of  Poseidon,  who  was  king  of  Colonse 


288          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

in  Troas,  and  came  to  the  assistance  of  the  Trojans,  was 
unable  to  stem  the  advance  of  the  Greeks ;  and  his  body 
being  invulnerable,  he  was  strangled  by  Achilles  by  means 
of  a  thong  twisted  round  his  neck. 

After  the  Greeks  had  made  a  station  for  their  ships,  the 
war  began  in  earnest.  Several  of  their  attacks  on  the  town 
having  been  successfully  repelled  by  the  Trojans,  the  Greeks 
now  confined  themselves  to  making  inroads  and  plundering 
excursions  into  the  surrounding  country,  in  which  Achilles 
was  always  the  most  prominent  actor.  The  first  nine  years 
of  the  war  were  by  no  means  fruitful  in  important  events, 
and  the  wearisome  monotony  of  the  siege  was  broken  only 
by  the  single  combat  between  Achilles  and  Troilus,  the 
youngest  son  of  Priam,  in  which  Troilus  was  slain,  and  by 
the  fall  of  Palamedes  of  Eubrea,  the  head  of  the  Greek  peace 
party,  which  was  brought  about  by  the  treachery  of  Odys- 
seus. At  length,  in  the  tenth  year  of  the  war,  a  quarrel 
broke  out  between  Achilles  and  Agamemnon  respecting  a 
female  slave  who  had  been  taken  captive,  and  gave  for  the 
time  quite  another  aspect  to  affairs.  It  is  at  this  point  that 
the  "Iliad"  commences.  Achilles,  in  his  wrath,  retired  to 
his  tent,  and  refused  to  take  any  further  part  in  the  war ; 
while  the  Trojans,  who  feared  him  more  than  all  the  other 
Greeks,  became  bolder,  and  no  longer  kept  to  the  protection 
of  their  walls.  Zeus,  at  the  request  of  Thetis,  gave  them  the 
victory  in  their  first  engagement  with  the  Greeks.  Hector 
drove  the  latter  back  to  their  ships,  and  was  already  about 
to  set  them  on  fire,  when  Achilles  consented  to  allow  his 
friend  Patroclus  to  don  his  armor,  and  lead  his  Myrmidons 
to  the  assistance  of  the  Greeks.  The  Trojans  were  now 
driven  back;  but  Patroclus,  in  the  ardor  of  pursuit,  was 
slain  by  Hector  and  deprived  of  his  armor,  and  Menelaiis, 


UNDERTAKINGS  OF  THE  LATER  HEROIC  AGE.    289 

with  the  help  of  the  Greater  Ajax  and  other  heroes,  only 
succeeded  in  rescuing  his  corpse  after  a  bloody  and  obsti- 
nate struggle.  The  wrath  of  Achilles  -was  now  entirely  di- 
verted by  the  desire  of  avenging  on  Hector  the  death  of  his 
much-loved  friend  Patroclus.  He  Was  scarcely  willing  even 
to  wait  for  the  new  armor  which  his  goddess-mother  pro- 
cured him  from  the  workshop  of  Hephaestus.  No  sooner 
was  he  in  possession  of  it  than  he  again  appeared  on  the 
field,  and  Hector — the  bulwark  of  Troy — soon  succumbed 
to  his  furious  onslaught.  Achilles,  however,  was  generous 
enough  to  surrender  his  corpse  to  the  entreaties  of  Priam. 
The  "Iliad"  concludes  with  the  solemn  funeral  of  Hector. 
The  succeeding  events,  up  to  the  death  of  Achilles  and 
the  contest  for  his  arms,  were  narrated  in  the  "^Ethiopia" 
of  Arctinus  of  Miletus,  with  the  contents  of  which  we  have 
some  slight  acquaintance,  although  the  work  itself  is  lost. 
All  kinds  of  brilliant  exploits  are  reported  to  have  been 
performed  by  Achilles  before  the  walls  of  Troy,  which 
were  manifestly  unknown  to  the  earlier  story.  In  the  first 
place,  immediately  after  Hector's  death,  Penthesilea,  the 
queen  of  the  Amazons,  came  to  the  assistance  of  the  Tro- 
jans, and  fought  so  bravely  at  the  head  of  her  army  that 
the  Greeks  were  hard  pressed.  Achilles  at  length  overcame 
the  heroic  daughter  of  Ares.  After  her  fall,  a  new  ally  of 
the  Trojans  appeared  in  Memnon,  King  of  -.Ethiopia,  who 
is  called  a  son  of  Eos,  because  the  Ethiopians  were  sup- 
posed to  dwell  in  the  far  East.  Among  those  who  fell  by 
the  hand  of  this  handsome  and  courageous  hero  was  Antil- 
ochus,  the  valiant  son  of  Nestor.  When  Memnon,  how- 
ever, ventured  to  meet  the  invincible  Achilles,  he  also  was 
vanquished,  after  a  brave  struggle.  The  fresh  morning 
dew,  which  springs  from  the  tears  of  Eos,  proves  that  she 

19 


290  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

has  never  ceased  to  lament  her  heroic  son.  But  death  was 
soon  to  overtake  him  before  whom  so  many  heroes  had 
bitten  the  dust.  In  an  assault  on  the  Scsean  gate,  Achilles 
was  killed,  at  the  head  of  his  Myrmidons,  by  an  arrow  of 
Paris,  which  was  directed  by  Apollo.  According  to  later 
writers,  whose  accounts  were  followed  by  the  tragic  poets, 
he  was  treacherously  murdered  here  on  the  occasion  of  his 
betrothal  to  Polyxena,  the  beautiful  daughter  of  Priam. 
A  furious  contest,  lasting  the  whole  day,  took  place  for  the 
possession  of  his  corpse  and  armor:  at  length  Odysseus 
and  Ajax  succeeded  in  conveying  it  to  a  place  of  safety. 
Mourning  and  confusion  reigned  among  the  Greeks  at  his 
death.  During  seventeen  days  and  nights  Thetis,  with 
the  whole  band  of  Nereids,  bewailed  his  untimely  fate  in 
mourning  melodies,  so  sad  and  touching  that  neither  gods 
nor  men  could  refrain  from  tears. 

"  See,  tears  are  shed  by  every  god  and  goddess,  to  survey 
How  soon  the  Beautiful  is  past,  the  Perfect  dies  away !" 

The  death  of  the  bravest  of  the  Greeks  was  followed  by 
an  unhappy  quarrel  between  Ajax  and  Odysseus  respecting 
his  arms.  Ajax,  on  account  of  his  near  relationship  to  the 
deceased  hero,  and  the  great  services  he  had  rendered  to 
the  cause  of  the  Greeks,  seemed  to  have  the  best  claim ; 
but  Agamemnon,  by  the  advice  of  Athene,  adjudged  them 
to  Odysseus.  Ajax  was  so  mortified  at  this  decision  that 
he  became  insane,  and  put  an  end  to  his  own  life.  An  en- 
tire tragedy  of  Sophocles,  treating  of  the  mournful  fate  of 
the  son  of  Telamon,  has  come  down  to  us. 

After  Ajax  had  quitted  the  scene,  Odysseus  became  de- 
cidedly the  chief  personage  among  the  Greeks.  It  was  he 
who  captured  the  Trojan  seer  Helenns,  and  extorted  from 


UNDERTAKINGS    OF    THE    LATER   HEROIC    AGE.        291 

him  the  secret  that  Ilium  could  not  be  taken  without  the 
arrows  of  Heracles.  Hereupon  Philoctetes,  who  was  still 
lying  sick  at  Lemnos,  was  fetched,  and  his  wound  healed  by 
Machaon.  Paris  soon  afterward  fell  by  his  hand.  It  was 
Odysseus,  moreover,  who,  in  company  with  Diomedes,  un- 
dertook the  perilous  task  of  entering  Troy  in  disguise  and 
stealing  the  Palladium,  on  which  the  safety  of  the  city  de- 
pended. It  was  he  who  fetched  Neoptolemus,  the  young 
son  of  Achilles,  from  Scyros  to  the  Trojan  camp,  it  having 
been  decreed  that  his  presence  was  necessary  to  the  success 
of  the  Greeks.  Lastly — and  this  was  his  greatest  service — 
it  was  Odysseus  who  devised  the  celebrated  wooden  horse, 
and  the  stratagem  which  led  to  the  final  capture  of  the 
city.  In  the  belly  of  the  horse,  which  was  built  by  Epeiis, 
one  hundred  chosen  warriors  of  the  Greeks  concealed  them- 
selves. The  rest  of  the  Greeks  set  fire  to  their  camp,  and 
sailed  away  to  Tenedos ;  whereupon  the  Trojans,  deceived 
by  the  assurances  of  Sinon,  dragged  the  fatal  horse,  amidst 
cries  of  joy,  into  the  city.  In  vain  did  the  Trojan  priest 
of  Apollo,  Laocoon,  seek  to  divert  them  from  their  folly. 
None  would  give  heed  to  his  warnings;  and  when,  soon 
afterward,  both  he  and  his  sons,  while  sacrificing  to  Posei- 
don on  the  sea-shore,  were  strangled  by  two  serpents  that 
came  up  out  of  the  sea,  the  Trojans  regarded  this  as  a  pun- 
ishment sent  by  the  gods  for  his  evil  counsel,  and  were  the 
more  confirmed  in  their  purpose. 

The  death  of  Laocoon  and  his  sons  forms  the  subject  of  one  of 
the  most  splendid  of  the  creations  of  Greek  art  that  have  come  down 
to  us  from  antiquity.  The  group  was  found,  in  the  year  1506,  by  a 
Roman  citizen  in  his  vineyard,  close  to  the  former  Thermos  of  Ti- 
tus, and  was  made  over  by  him,  for  a  considerable  annuity,  to  Pope 
Julius  II.,  who  then  placed  it  in  the  Vatican  collection.  The  right 
arm  of  Laocoon,  which  was  wanting,  has,  unfortunately,  been  incor- 


292 


GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 


rectly  restored.  This  is  attested  by  a  copy  of  the  group  which  was 
subsequently  discovered  in  Naples.  We  give  an  engraving  of  the 
group  in  its  original  form  (Fig.  61). 

It  treats  really  of  three  distinct  incidents,  which  have  been  skil- 
fully incorporated  by  the  artists  to  whom  we  owe  the  work  (the 
Rhodians  Agesander,  Athenodorus,  and  Polydorus),  into  one  harmo- 
nious group.  The  eldest  son  is  as  yet  unhurt,  and  appears  to  be  s» 


Fig.  61. — Laocoon.    Group. 


loosely  held  by  the  coils  of  the  serpent  that  he  might  easily  escape 
his  impending  fate  if  he  were  not  more  effectually  restrained  by  his 
loving  sympathy  with  his  noble  father,  on  whom  he  gazes  with  pite- 
ous looks.  Laocoon  himself,  who  naturally  forms  the  centre  of  the 
group,  is  depicted  at  the  moment  in  which,  mortally  wounded  by 
the  serpent,  he  sinks  on  the  altar,  to  rise  from  which  he  vainly  exerts 
his  last  remaining  strength.  With  his  left  arm  he  still  mechanical- 


UNDERTAKINGS  OF  THE  LATER  HEROIC  AGE.    293 

ly  seeks  to  repel  the  serpents.  His  hitherto  energetic  resistance  has 
begun  to  fail,  and  his  noble  head  is  raised  in  mournful  resignation  to 
heaven,  as  though  to  ask  the  gods  why  they  had  condemned  him  to 
so  terrible  a  fate.  The  dignified  and  resolute  aspect  of  his  counte- 
nance  forms  a  beautiful  contrast  to  that  of  his  body,  which  is  mani- 
festly quivering  in  the  keenest  agony.  The  younger  son  on  his  right 
is  already  in  the  last  agonies  of  death,  and  though  his  left  hand 
grasps  instinctively  the  head  of  the  snake,  he  is  evidently  incapable 
of  further  resistance.  He  is  drooping  like  a  plucked  flower,  and  hi 
one  more  moment  will  have  breathed  his  last. 

Oil  the  night  succeeding  Laocoon's  horrible  end,  and 
the  rejoicings  of  the  Trojans  at  the  apparent  departure 
of  the  Greeks,  the  Greek  fleet  returned  in  silence  at  a  sig- 
nal given  by  Sinon.  The  heroes  who  were  hidden  in  the 
wooden  horse  then  descended  and  opened  the  gates  to  the 
Greek  host,  who  rushed  into  the  doomed  city.  A  terrible 
scene  of  plunder  and  carnage  ensued,  the  Trojans,  in  their 
dismay  and  confusion,  offering  no  resistance.  The  fate 
of  the  sacred  city  was  fulfilled ;  Priam  perished  before  the 
altar  of  Zeus  by  the  hand  of  Neoptolemus,  and  with  him 
the  glory  of  Troy  was  laid  in  the  dust.  The  men  were 
put  to  death;  the  women  and  children,  together  with  the 
rich  booty,  were  carried  off,  the  former  being  destined  to 
the  hard  lot  of  slavery.  Among  them  was  the  aged  queen 
Hecuba,  with  all  her  daughters  and  daughters-in-law.  Hel- 
en— the  cause  of  all  this  misfortune — was  found  in  the 
house  of  Dei'phobus,  whom  she  had  married  after  the  death 
of  his  brother  Paris. 

The  city  was  burned  to  the  ground,  and,  long  after,  oth- 
er cities  rose  on  its  site.  Still,  the  tradition  of  the  siege 
remained  among  the  inhabitants,  though,  even  in  Roman 
times,  learned  men  had  begun  to  declare  that  Old  Troy 
must  have  had  another  site.  And  now,  when  the  last  Ilium 
had  been  no  more  for  many  centuries,  and  the  very  exist- 


294          GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

ence  of  Homer's  Troy  had  been  declared  a  fable,  the  pal- 
ace and  the  traces  of  the  conflagration  have  been  found. 
Dr.  Schliemann  has  excavated  the  legendary  site,  and  we 
know  now  that  Athene  was  worshipped  in  the  city,  and 
that  it  perished  by  fire.  We  can  hardly  tell  at  present 
the  full  importance  of  these  discoveries,  nor  of  those  at 
Mycenae,  where  the  traditional  tombs  of  the  Grecian  lead- 
ers have  been  examined,  and  their  long -buried  wealth 
brought  to  light. 

III.  THE  RETURN.  —  The  Greeks,  after  sacrificing  Po- 
lyxena  on  the  grave  of  Achilles  at  Sigeum,  prepared  to 
return  to  their  country.  Few,  however,  were  destined  to 
reach  their  homes  without  some  misfortune,  or,  even  when 
arrived  there,  to  experience  a  kindly  welcome.  Of  the  two 
sons  of  Atreus,  Agamemnon,  after  escaping  a  storm  on  the 
coast  of  Euboea,  landed  safely  on  his  native  shores,  but  was 
soon  after  murdered  by  his  wife  and  ^Egisthus,  who  had, 
during  his  absence,  returned  to  Argos  and  married  Clytsem- 
nestra.  Cassandra,  the  Trojan  prophetess,  who,  in  the  di- 
vision of  the  spoils,  had  fallen  to  Agamemnon,  shared  his 
fate.  She  had  continually  predicted  the  unfortunate  end 
of  the  war  and  the  ultimate  fate  of  the  city,  but  had  al- 
ways been  laughed  to  scorn  by  her  incredulous  country- 
men. The  fate  of  the  commander  of  the  Greeks,  with  its 
eventful  consequences,  was  a  favorite  subject  with  the  tragic 
poets.  His  murder  did  not  go  unavenged.  Orestes,  the 
only  son  of  Agamemnon  and  Clyta3mnestra,  had  been  hasti- 
ly removed  from  the  scene  by  his  sister  Electra,  and  sent  to 
his  uncle  Strophius,  King  of  Phocis.  Strophius  had  him 
carefully  educated  with  his  own  son  Pylades,  who  was  about 
the  same  age.  A  most  intimate  friendship  soon  sprung  up 
between  the  two  youths,  which,  from  its  faithfulness  and 


UNDERTAKINGS  OF  THE  LATER  HEROIC  AGE.    295 

constancy,  has  become  proverbial.  On  reaching  manhood, 
the  sole  thought  of  Orestes  was  to  avenge  his  noble  father's 
treacherous  death  at  the  hands  of  the  crafty  ^Egisthus  and 
his  mother  Clytsemnestra.  Accompanied  by  his  friend  Pyl- 
ades,  he  returned,  in  the  eighth  year  of  his  exile,  to  My- 
cenae, and  there  slew  both  ^Egisthus  and  Clytsemnestra. 
Although  in  so  doing  he  had  only  fulfilled  a  duty,  he  yet 
incurred  the  deepest  guilt  by  the  murder  of  her  who  gave 
him  birth,  and  at  once  found  himself  pursued  by  the  aven- 
ging Furies.  They  dogged  his  steps,  and  ceased  not  to 
pursue  him  through  all  the  countries  of  the  earth,  until  he 
was  at  length  directed  by  the  oracle  at  Delphi  to  convey 
the  statue  of  Artemis  from  Tauris  to  Attica.  After  he  had, 
with  the  help  of  his  newly  found  sister,  successfully  achieved 
this  task,  he  was  purified  by  Apollo  (see  page  1*75).  Of 
the  numerous  dramas  that  were  written  on  the  subject  of 
the  fortunes  of  the  Pelopidae,  which  we  have  here  briefly 
touched  on,  the  "Agamemnon,"  "  Choephorae,"  and  "  Eu- 
menides"  of  ^schylus,  the  "Electra"  of  Sophocles,  and 
the  "Electra"  and  "  Iphigenia  in  Tauris"  of  Euripides, 
are  still  extant. 

We  must  now  turn  to  the  fortunes  of  the  other  Greek 
leaders.  Agamemnon's  brother  Menelaus  was  overtaken, 
off  Cape  Malea,  by  a  fearful  storm,  which  carried  him  to 
Crete  and  Egypt,  whence,  after  seven  years  of  wandering, 
he  returned  to  Sparta  with  Helen  and  his  share  of  the 
spoils  of  Troy. 

The  Locrian  Ajax  experienced  a  still  more  unhappy  fate. 
On  the  night  of  the  destruction  of  Troy  he  had  penetrated 
into  the  temple  of  Pallas,  and  had  not  only  torn  away  the 
priestess  Cassandra,  who  was  clinging  for  safety  to  the  al- 
tar and  statue  of  the  goddess,  but  had  also  overturned  the 


296  GREEK    AND    ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY. 

statue  of  Pallas  herself.  As  a  punishment  for  this  offence, 
his  ship  was  wrecked  on  Cape  Caphareus.  He  would  still 
have  been  able  to  escape  with  his  life — having  succeeded 
in  getting  hold  of  a  rock — if  he  had  not  given  such  offence 
to  Poseidon  by  his  impious  boast  that  he  needed  not  the 
help  of  the  gods,  that  the  god  split  the  rock  with  his  tri- 
dent, whereupon  Ajax  fell  into  the  sea  and  was  drowned. 

Diomedes,  Philoctetes,  and  Idomeneus  reached  their 
homes  in  safety,  but  were  all  soon  afterward  driven  out, 
after  which  they  all  three  emigrated  to  Italy.  Here  Di- 
omedes founded  many  towns,  and  was  long  worshipped 
with  heroic  honors. 

Teucer  also  succeeded  in  reaching  Salamis  in  safety,  but 
his  father  Telamon  was  so  wroth  because  he  had  not  bet- 
ter protected  his  brother  Ajax,  or,  at  least,  avenged  his 
death,  that  he  refused  to  receive  him.  He  was,  therefore, 
likewise  obliged  to  leave  his  country,  and  subsequently  set- 
tled on  the  island  of  Cyprus. 

But  of  all  the  Greek  heroes  Odysseus  experienced  the 
most  reverses,  while  at  home  his  faithful  wife  Penelope 
and  his  son  Telemachus  were  hard  pressed  by  the  suitors. 
It  was  only  in  the  tenth  year  after  the  fall  of  Troy,  and 
after  numerous  wanderings  and  vicissitudes,  that  he  was 
permitted  to  return  to  his  native  Ithaca,  and  punish  the 
shameless  suitors  who  had  wasted  his  substance  and  goods. 
The  story  of  his  adventures  is  so  well  known  that  we 
need  not  dwell  on  it  here,  further  than  to  mention  that,  ac- 
cording to  post-Homeric  accounts,  Odysseus  was  killed  by 
the  hand  of  Telegonus,  his  own  son  by  Circe. 

The  events  of  the  Trojan  cycle  have  supplied  not  only  the  poet, 
but  also  the  artist  and  the  sculptor,  with  a  large  number  of  their 
<nost  acceptable  subjects.  Single  scenes,  such  as  the  judgment  of 


UNDERTAKINGS    OF    THE    LATER    HEROIC    AGE. 


297 


Paris,  have  been  continually  selected,  ever  since  the  time  of  Raphael, 
as  favorite  subjects  of  representation.  Of  modern  masters,  Carstens, 
Thorwaldsen  (the  great  Danish  sculptor),  Cornelius,  Genelli,  and  Prel- 
ler  ("Landscapes  of  the  Odyssey")  have  illustrated  the  story  of  Troy 
in  a  series  of  splendid  compositions.  We  give  an  engraving  of  a  re- 
lief by  Thorwaldsen,  representing  Priam  before  Achilles  (Fig.  62). 


Fig.  G2.— Priam  before  Achilles.    Relief  by  Thorwaldsen. 

Of  the  more  important  extant  works  of  antiquity,  we  may  mention 
the  wedding  of  Peleus  and  Thetis,  depicted  on  the  Fran9ais  vase  in 
the  Naples  Museum;  the  abduction  of  Helen,  depicted  on  a  marble 
relief  in  the  former  Campana  collection,  now  in  the  Louvre  (Fig. 
63);  the  marble  group  in  Rome  known  by  the  name  of  "Pasquino," 
which  represents  Menelaiis  raising  the  corpse  of  Patroclus;  and, 
lastly,  the  celebrated  J5gina  marbles  in  Munich.  These  last  are  the 
remains  of  a  marble  group  from  the  gable  of  a  temple  of  Pallas  at 
^Egina,  representing  a  battle  between  the  Greeks  and  Trojans.  They 
were  discovered  at  ^Egina  in  the  year  1811.  King  Ludwig  I.  of 
Bavaria,  who  was  a  great  patron  of  art,  bought  the  ^Egina  marbles, 
and,  after  having  them  restored  by  Thorwaldsen,  placed  them  in  the 
Munich  collection.  The  Laocoon,  the  most  important  of  all  the 
works  relating  to  the  Trojan  cycle,  has  already  been  discussed. 


MYTHIC  SEERS  AND  BARDS.  299 


V.— MYTHIC  SEERS  AND  BARDS. 

We  have  already  incidentally  mentioned  most  of  the 
seers  of  antiquity — Melampus,  the  son  of  Amythaon,  who 
figures  in  Argive  legend ;  likewise  Amphiaraiis,  Tiresias, 
and  Calchas.  Concerning  Tiresias,  we  may  remark  that  the 
ancients  ascribed  to  him  a  fabulous  age,  extending  over  sev- 
en or  even  nine  generations ;  so  that  he  was  thus  a  witness 
of  all  that  happened  to  Thebes,  from  the  foundation  of  the 
city  to  its  destruction  by  the  Epigoni.  Like  all  celebrated 
soothsayers,  he  was  acquainted  with  the  language  of  birds, 
and  could  penetrate  the  most  hidden  secrets  of  nature ;  on 
which  account  he  enjoyed  up  to  his  death  an  ever-increas- 
ing reputation  among  the  Thebans.  We  have  already  re- 
lated how,  in  extreme  old  age,  when  his  native  city  could 
no  longer  withstand  the  assaults  of  the  Epigoni,  he  expe- 
rienced the  bitter  lot  of  having  to  take  refuge  in  flight, 
and  at  length  succumbed  beneath  the  hardships  of  the 
journey.  In-  the  second  century  A.D.  his  grave  was  still 
shown  in  the  neighborhood  of  Haliartus. 

Among  the  fugitive  Thebans  who  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Argives  is  said  to  have  been  Manto,  the  daughter  of 
Tiresias,  who  was  likewise  renowned  as  a  prophetess.  She 
was  dedicated,  together  with  a  large  portion  of  the  spoils, 
to  the  oracle  at  Delphi.  By  the  command  of  the  god  she 
was  sent  into  Asia  Minor,  where  she  founded  the  oracle  of 
Claros,  near  Colophon.  She  here  married  the  Cretan  Rha- 
cius,  and  became  by  him  the  mother  of  Mopsus,  who  after- 
ward founded  the  oracle  of  Mallos  in  Cilicia. 

Among  the  names  of  the  mythic  bards  that  have  been 
handed  down  to  us  are  undoubtedly  to  be  found  some  rec- 


300 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 


ollections  of  those  who  first  cultivated  the  art  of  poetry ; 
partly,  however,  they  are  nothing  more  than  personifica- 
tions of  certain  tendencies  and  modes  of  poetry.  Such  is 
probably  the  case  with  the  mythic  bard  Linus,  who  was 


Fig.  64 Orpheus  and  Eurydice.    Marble  Relief  iu  the  Villa  Albani. 

celebrated  in  Argos,  Thebes,  and  Euboea.  Nothing  is  more 
common  than  for  an  unsophisticated  people  to  burst  forth 
in  lamentation  over  the  decay  and  final  extinction  of  the 
blooming  life  of  nature.  This,  as  we  see  in  the  myth  of 
Hyacinthus,  was  often  portrayed  under  the  metaphor  of  a 


MYTHIC  SEERS  AND  BARDS.  301 

beautiful  boy  slain  by  a  quoit  or  by  savage  dogs  —  both 
symbols  of  the  scorching  heat  of  the  sun.  The  dirges 
which  from  time  immemorial  were  sung  over  the  beautiful 
boy  Linus,  at  the  season  of  vintage,  probably  gave  rise  to 
the  myth  which  makes  Linus  himself  the  singer. 

Similar  doleful  memories  are  linked  with  the  name  of 
Orpheus,  who  is  often  termed  a  brother  of  Linus,  though 
he  was  really  not  an  oEolian,  but  a  Thracian  of  Pieria. 
That  which  is  best  known  of  him  is  the  story  of  his  love 
for  the  beautiful  nymph  Eurydice.  She  was  bitten  in  the 
foot  by  a  snake,  and  thus  snatched  away  from  him  by 
death.  Orpheus  then  filled  mountain  and  valley  with 
songs  of  lamentation  so  piteous  that  the  wild  beasts  of 
the  forest  were  enchanted  at  the  sound,  and  followed  him 
like  lambs ;  and  the  very  rocks  and  trees  moved  from 
their  places.  His  yearning  towards  his  beloved  Eurydice 
induced  him  to  descend  to  the  lower  world,  to  beg  her  re- 
lease from  the  grim  king  of  shadows.  Here  his  piteous 
lay  caused  even  the  Erinyes  to  shed  tears  of  compassion, 
and  moved  the  hard  heart  of  the  Stygian  king.  He  re- 
leased Eurydice  on  condition  that  Orpheus  should  not  look 
back  on  her  till  he  reached  the  upper  world.  Orpheus, 
however,  violated  this  condition,  and  Eurydice  was  once 
more  lost  to  him.  He  himself,  not  long  afterward,  while 
wandering  in  his  despair  over  the  Thracian  mountains,  was 
torn  in  pieces  by  some  women,  in  the  mad  excitement  of 
their  nightly  Bacchanalian  orgies. 

A  splendid  representation  of  the  second  parting  of  the  lovers  by 
Hermes,  the  guide  of  souls,  has  come  down  to  us  on  a  marble  relief, 
which  is  preserved  in  the  Villa  Albani  (Fig.  64). 


INDEX. 


Abas,  216. 

Acastus,  268,  272,  282. 

Achelous,  128,  242. 

Acheron,  172. 

Achilles  (Achilleus),  40,  195,  282, 

_  288,  290. 

Achiroe,  215. 

Acrisius,  216,  221. 

Actaeon,  56,  198. 

Actoridae,  240. 

Admete,  233. 

Admetus,  265,  268. 

Adonis,  66. 

Adrastus,  274,  285. 

jEacus,  172,  281,  283. 

Aedou,  207. 

^Eetes,  106,  270. 

^Egeus,  253,  256,  272. 

^Egialeus,  276. 

^Egimius,  243. 

^Egma,  208,  281. 

^Egis,  41. 

^gisthus,  74, 175,  281,  294. 

./Egyptus,  215. 

^Eneas,  67, 181,  287. 

^Eolus,  111,  207,  267. 

^Esciilapius  (vide  Asclepius). 

jEson,  268. 

^Ethra,  253. 

./Etna,  25,  79. 

Agamemnon,  57,  74, 175, 281,  294. 

AgathSdasmon,  116. 

Agave,  134,  197. 

Igenor,  196,  215,  261. 

Aglaia,  97. 

Aglaurus,  250. 


Agrius,  285. 

Aldoneus,  169  (vide  Hades). 

Ajax,  Telamonian,  283,  290. 

Ajax,  Locrian,  284,  295. 

Alcaeus,  228. 

Alcathous,  283. 

Alcmaeon,  276. 

Alcmene,  31,  221,  228. 

Alecto,  174. 

Ileus,  241. 

Aloldae,  120. 

Alth<ea,  266. 

Amalthea,  23,  242. 

Amazons,  208,  210-212,  233,  257 

Amor,  90. 

Amphiaraus,  217,  266,  269,  275. 

Amphictyon,  251. 

Amphlon,  197,  200. 

Amphitrlte,  118, 122. 

Amphitryon,  221,  228. 

Amycus,  225,  269. 

Amyntor,  283. 

Amythaonldae,  217,  274,  284, 

An&ces,  226. 

Ancaeus,  265. 

Anchmoe,  215. 

Anchlses,  67,  277. 

Androgeos,  255,  262. 

Andromeda,  119,  220. 

Anna  Perenna,  114. 

Antaeus,  120,  236. 

Antea,  217. 

Anteros,  66,  91. 

Anthesteria,  139. 

Anticlea,  285. 

Antigone,  274. 


304 


INDEX. 


Antilochus,  289. 

Antiope,  257. 

Aphareus,  224. 

Aph&iidae,  224,  266. 

Aphidnae,  225,  257. 

Aphrodite,  31,  60,  65,  90,  98,  188, 

265,  286. 
Apollo,  18,  81,  47,  72,  175,  179, 

204,  238,  278. 
Apsyrtus,  271. 
Aquilo,  110. 
Areas,  110. 
Arctus,  110. 
Areopagus,  60,  175. 
Ires,  31,  59,  66,  90,  197,  233,  267. 
Arges,  22. 
Arglphontes,  214. 
ArgO,  268. 
Argonauts,  106, 125,  225,232, 259, 

264,  267,  268,  284. 
Argos,  36,  214,  280. 
Argus,  74,  214,  268. 
Ariadne,  136,  142-144,  256,  262. 
Aristaeus,  198. 
Artemis,  31, 56, 179, 198,  232,  265, 

287,  295. 

Asclepius,  48,  111,  263. 
Asopus,  208,  281. 
AssarScus,  277. 
Asteria,  22,  177. 
Asterion,  261. 
Astrasus,  108. 
Astydamia,  282. 
Atalante,  266. 
IthSmas,  127,  267. 
Athene,  17,  40,  187, 188,  237,  286. 
Athene  Polias,  40,  44,  252. 
Atlas,  71,  188,  237. 
Atreus,  279. 
Atropos,  114. 
Attica,  42,  250. 
Attis(ltys),  132,  151. 
AugS,  241. 

Augeas,  232,  240,  245. 
Aurora,  108. 
Autolycus,  285. 
Autonoe,  197. 


Bacchus,  133. 

Bellerophon       (Bellerophontes), 

208. 

Bellona,  62. 
Belus,  215. 
Benthesicyme,  122. 
Beroe,  133. 
Bias,  217,  274. 
Bona  Dea,  154. 
Bonus  Eventus,  116. 
Boreadee,  110,  269. 
Boreas,  108, 110,  252. 
Brlareus,  22. 
Brontes,  22. 
Busiris,  236. 

Cabin,  80. 

Cacus,  235,  246. 

Cadmus,  31,  60, 133, 197,  250,  267, 

272,  275. 
Caeneus,  192. 
Calais,  110,252,269. 
Calchas,  287,  299. 
Calliope,  93. 
Callirhoe,  234. 
Callisto,  110. 
Calydonian  Hunt,  225,  258,  264. 

281. 

CSlypso,  74. 
C3menae,  95. 
Capys,  277. 
Carna  (Cardea),  114. 
Carpo,  100. 

Cassandra,  286,  294,  295. 
Cassiopea,  220. 
Castor,  196,  203,  224,  265. 
Catreus,  262. 
Cecrops,  250,  251. 
Celeus,  163. 
Centaurs,  191,231,257. 
Centaurs,  fight  with,  191. 
Ccntimanes,  21. 
Cephalus,  252. 
Cepheus  (^Ethiopia),  220. 
Cephisus,  145. 
Cerberus,  172,  228,  237. 
Cercopes,  239. 


INDEX. 


305 


Cercyon,  120,  254. 

Ceres,  31, 160,  165, 166. 

Ceres  (Fates),  179. 

Ceto,  22,  124,  127,  219. 

Ceyx,  242. 

Chaos,  21. 

Charites,  31,  95. 

Charon,  172. 

Chimsera,  209. 

Chiron,  194,  198,  253,  268,  281. 

Chrysaor,  220,  234. 

Chrysippus,  280. 

Circe,  106,  296. 

Claros,  oracle  of,  49,  299. 

Clio,  93. 

Cloacma,  68. 

Clotho,  115. 

Clymene,  188. 

Clytaemnestra,  175,  224,  281,  294, 

295. 

Cocalus,  263. 
Coeus,  22. 

Colossus  of  Rhodes,  107. 
Cora,  161,  166. 
Corinth,  42. 
Corybantes,  132. 
Corynetes,  254. 
Cottus,  22. 
Cranaus,  251. 
Creon,  228,  229,  273,  275. 
Cretheus,  268. 
Crettsa,  272. 
Crlus,  22. 

Cronus,  22,  82,  132, 156,  194. 
Ciipldo,  92. 
Curetes,  23,  132,  265. 
Cybele,  131,  149. 
Cychreus,  283. 
Cyclopes,  21,  80,  217. 
Cycnus,  242,  287. 
Cyllene,  71. 

Daedalus,  262,  263. 
Daemons,  117. 
Damastes,  254. 
Danae,  31,  218. 
Danaids,  173,  215. 


DSnaus,  215. 

Dardanus,  277. 

Death,  179. 

Deianira,  242. 

Deiphobus,  293. 

Delphian  Oracle,  49,  83,  131,  196. 

Demeter,  23,  31,  128,  160,  161, 

216,  279. 

Demophon,  163,  260. 
Demus,  66. 

Deucalion,  187, 190,  251,  262,  263. 
Diana,  56,  57  (vide  Artemis). 
Dice,  98. 
Dictys,  218. 
Didymsean  Oracle,  49. 
Diocles,  163. 
Diomedes,  Argive,  40,  196,  284, 

296. 

Diomedes,  Thracian,  233. 
Dione,  31,  65. 
Dionysia,  Greater,  140. 
DTonysia,  Lesser,  1 38. 
Dionysus,  31,  66,  78,  98,  133,  152, 

256. 
Dioscuri,  224,  257,  265,  269,  282, 

286. 

Dirce,  200. 
Dis,  170. 

Dodona,  Oracle  of,  29. 
Doris,  124. 
Dryads,  146. 
Dryopes,  243,  245. 
Dryops,  149. 

Echidna,  209,  230,  235. 

Echo,  67,  145. 

Egeria,  95. 

Electra  (daughter  of  Agamemnon), 

_  294. 

Electra  (daughter  of  Atlas),  277. 

Electra    (daughter   of   Oceanus), 

124. 

Electryon,  221,  228. 
Eleusmia,  164. 
fileusis,  163. 
Elysium,  172, 186. 
Emathion,  236. 


20 


306 


INDEX. 


Endeis,  196,  281. 

Endymion,  107. 

Enyo,  62. 

Eos,  22,  108,  252, 289. 

Epaphus,  214,  215. 

Epeus,  291. 

Epigoni,  276,  285,  299. 

Epimetheus,  188,  189. 

Epopeus,  200. 

firXto,  93. 

Erechtheus,  110,  251,  263. 

Ergmus,  229. 

Erichthomus  (vide  Erechtheus). 

Erinyes,  116, 172, 174,  265,  301. 

Eriphyle,  275. 

Eris,  286. 

firos,  21,  66,  67,  90. 

Erysiehthon,  164. 

EtCocles,  274,  276. 

Eumenides,  176,  274. 

Eumolpus,  163. 

Eunomia,  98. 

Euphrosyne,  95. 

Europe  (Europa),  31,  261. 

Eurus,  108. 

EurySle,  219. 

Eurybia,  22. 

Eurydice,  301. 

Eurynome,  31,  78,  98. 

Eur)'stheus,  229,  233,  280. 

Eurytion,  191,  281. 

Eurytus,  238,  243. 

Euterpe,  93. 

Fates  (vide  Moerse). 

Fauna,  153. 

Faunalia,  154. 

Faunus,  153. 

FSvomus,  110. 

Fellcftas,  117. 

Flora,  158. 

Fontus,  88, 129. 

Fortuna,  116. 

Furiae  (Furies)  (vide  Erinyes). 

Gaea,  21,  23,  130,  150,  176,  235, 
251. 


GSnymedes,  102,  104,  234. 
Ge,  21  (vide  Gsea). 
Gelanor,  215. 
Genii,  117. 

Geryones  (Geryon),  220,  234. 
Gigantes  (Giants),  25. 
Glaucus  Pontius,  126. 
Glaucus  (son  of  Minos),  262. 
Glaucus  (son  of  Sisyphus),  208. 
Gorgoneum  (vide  --Egis). 
Gorgons,  22,  125,  218. 
Graces,  97, 189. 
Gradivus,  62. 
Grsea;,  22,  125,  219. 
Gratiae  (vide  Graces). 
Gyes,  22. 

Hades,  20,  23,  161,  169,  216,  257. 

Hamadryads,  146. 

Harmoma,  60,  197,  275. 

Harpies,  22,  124,  269. 

Hebe,  20,  31,  102,  228,  244. 

Hecabe  (vide  Hecuba). 

HecSte,  107,  177. 

Hector,  287-289. 

Hecuba,  278,  286,  293. 

Helene  (Helen),  67,  224,  257,  281, 

295. 

Helenus,  290. 

Helios,  22,  105,  161,  234,  262. 
Helle,  267. 
Hephsestus,  31,  60,  66,  78,  188, 

254,  264,  270,  289. 
Hera,  17,  20,  23,  31,  35,  78,  104, 

113,227,233,235,273,286. 
Heracles,  92,  102,  123,  186,  211, 

216,  227,  230-250,  269. 
Herseum,  36. 

Hercules,  235,  246  (vide  Heracles). 
Hermes,  18,  31,  66,  71,  189,  219, 

237,  279. 
Heroes,  184. 
Herse,  250,  252. 
Hesione,  234,  240,  283. 
Hesperides,  106, 125,  235. 
Hesperus,  109. 
Hestia,  23,  82- 


INDEX. 


307 


Himerus,  67. 

Hippocoon,  241,  245. 

Hippodamia,  279. 

Hippolyte,  257. 

Hippolytus,  67,  257. 

Homer,  17,  40,  59,  102,  167,  237, 

285. 

Honos,  227. 
HQrae,  31,  98. 
Hyatinthus,  48,  300. 
Hyades,  109. 
Hydra,  230. 
Hygiea,41, 113. 
Hylas,  269. 
Hyllus,  242. 
Hymen,  67. 
Hymenajus,  67. 
Hyperion,  22,  106, 108. 
Hypermnestra,  216. 
Hypnus,  180, 

Tapetus,  22,  188. 

Icarius,  224,  285. 

Icarus,  263. 

Ichthyocentaurs,  123. 

Idas,  225,  265. 

Tdomeneus,  263,  296. 

Iliad,  265,  277,  285. 

Ilithyia,  113. 

Ilus,'277. 

Inachus,  214. 

Ino,126,134, 197,  267. 

Inuus,  153. 

16,  31,  74,  214. 

locates,  209,  217. 

locaste,  272. 

lolaus,  231,  235,  238,  265. 

lole,  238,  243. 

Ion,  252. 

Iphianassa,  217. 

fphicles,  229,  265. 

Ipbiggnia,  57,  287. 

Iphitus,  238,  269. 

Irene,  98. 

Iris,  22,  101,  124. 

Isis,  215. 

Ismenian  Oracle,  49. 


Isthmian  Games.  119. 
Itylus,  207. 
Ixlon,  173. 

Janus,  17,  86. 
Jason,  265,  268-272. 
Juno,  17,  31,  39. 
Jupiter,  17,  27,  30,42,89. 
Juventas,  102. 

Labd5cid£G,  272. 

Labd&cus,  207. 

Lachesis,  114. 

Ladon,  235. 

Laertes,  285. 

Lams,  207,  272. 

Lampus,  108. 

Laocoon,  291,  292. 

Laod5mas,  276. 

LSomedon,  119,  234,  240,  278- 

Lapithsc,  191,  243,  257. 

Lares,  182. 

Larvae,  183. 

Latona  (vide  Leto). 

Learchus,  127,  267. 

Leda,  31,  224. 

Lemuralia,  183. 

Lemures,  183. 

Lenaea,  138. 

Leto,  22,  31, 47,  56,  173. 

Leucippus,  225. 

Leucothea  (vide  Ino). 

Liber,  141,  166. 

Llberalia,  141. 

Libitum,  68. 

Libya,  215. 

Lichas,  244. 

Linus,  49,  229,  300. 

Lower  world,  171. 

Luna,  56,  107. 

Lupercalia,  154. 

Lupercus,  153. 

Lyseus,  136. 

Lycomedes,  260,  28a 

Lycus  (Megara),  253. 

Lycus  (Thebes),  200. 

Lynceus  (Scythian),  164. 


308 


INDEX. 


Lynceus  (son  of  Aphareus),  225. 
Lynceus  (son  of  Danaus),  216. 

Machaon,  291. 

Maia,  31,  71,  154. 

Manes,  183. 

Manto,  276,  299. 

Mars,  or  Mayors,  31,  60,  89. 

Marsyp,s,  148. 

Mater  Magna  Idfea,  131, 151. 

Mater  Matuta,  109  (note). 

Matronalia,  39. 

Medea,  254,  264,  270,  282. 

MMusa,41,  120,209,218. 

Megapenthes,  221. 

Megaera,  174. 

Megara,  230,  238. 

Melampus,  217,  275. 

Meleager,  196,  242,  265,  269. 

Melia,  214. 

Melicertes,  127,  267. 

Melpomene",  93. 

Memnon,  108,  289. 

Menelaus,  281,  286,  295. 

Menestheus,  260. 

Mencetlus,  188. 

Mercurfus,  75. 

MSrope,  208,  273. 

MetfSn,  253,  263. 

Metiomdae,  253. 

Metis,  30. 

Metus,  62. 

Midas,  148. 

Minerva,  17,  31,  42, 159. 

Minos,  136, 172,  233,  255,  261. 

Minotaur,  255,  261. 

MnCm3syn6,  22,  31,  93. 

Moarae,  31,  114. 

M61i6nld£e,  240. 

Mopsus,  299. 

Morpheus,  180. 

MSsychlus,  80. 

Mulclber,  80. 

Murcla,  68. 

Muses,  31,49,93,  143. 

Mutunus,  155. 

Myrtllus,  279. 


NTaiads,  145. 

Napseae,  145. 

Xarcissus,  67,  145. 

Neleus,  240, 245,  284. 

Nemesis,  116. 

Neoptolemus,  291,  293. 

Nephele,  267. 

Neptune  (Neptunus),  121. 

Nereids,  123,  220,  290. 

Nereus,  22, 123,  236. 

Nerio,  62. 

Nessus,  242. 

Nestor,  191,  196,  241,  284. 

Nice,  100. 

Night,  179. 

Nilus,  215. 

Niobe,  56,  204,  279. 

Nlsus,  253,  255. 

N6tus,  108. 

Nycteus,  200. 

Nymphs,  144,  219,  236. 

Oceanids,  78,  98, 128, 194.   . 
Oceanus,  22,  31, 107,  128,  t88. 
Odysseus,  74,  120,  127,  2b5,  290; 

296. 

(Edipus,  176,272. 
GEneus,  242,  265,  285. 
(Enomaus,  279. 
Oicles,  240. 
<3lleus,  284. 

Olympian  Games,  30,  50,  226. 
Omphale,  239. 
Ops,  155. 
Orcus,  179. 
Oreads,  145, 150. 
6restcs,  57,  175,  294. 
OriCn,  108,  109. 
OrTthyia,  110,252. 
Orpheus,  49,  269,  301. 
OschSphSrta,  256. 

Paganalia,  131. 
Palaemon,  127. 
PSlamedes,  288. 
Pales,  158. 
Palladium,  277,  285,  29]- 


INDEX. 


309 


Pallas,  253,  255. 

Pallas  Athene  (vide  Athene). 

Pallor,  62. 

Pan,  134,  149. 

Panathenaea,  42,  256. 

Pandareos,  207. 

Pandlon,  253. 

Pandora,  188. 

Pandrosus,  250. 

Panes,  146, 152. 

Parcae,  114,  179. 

Paris,  286,  290,  291. 

Parthenon,  41. 

Pasiphae,  262. 

Patroclus,  288. 

Pegasus,  120,  209,  220. 

Peleus,  67, 124, 196,  240,  265,  269, 

281,  286. 

Pelias,  208,  268,  282,  284. 
Pelopidffi,  278,  295. 
Pelops,  173,  203,  278. 
Penates,  84,  180. 
Penelope,  224,  285,  296. 
Penelope  (Nymph),  149. 
Penthe'silea,  211,  289. 
Pentheus,  134. 
Pertbcea,  283. 
Periclyme'nus,  241,  269. 
PSriphetes,  254. 
Perse,  106. 
Persei's,  262. 
Persephone,   31,    107,   128,   161, 

166,  179,  257. 

Perseus,  119,  217,  228,  280. 
Phaxlra,  67,  257,  262. 
Phaethou  (son  of  Helios),  106. 
Phaethon  (horse  of  Eos),  108. 
PhTloctetes,  244,  287,  291,  296. 
Philyra,  194. 
Phmeus,  125,  221,  269. 
Phobus,  66. 
Phoebe,  22,  56. 
Phoenix,  282. 
Pholus,  231. 

Phorcys,  22, 124,  127,219. 
Phosphorus,  109. 
Phrixus,  267. 


Phyleus,  240. 

Pmthous,  191,  237,  265. 

Pittheus,  253. 

Pityocamptes,  254. 

Pleiades,  109. 

Plexippus,  266. 

Pluteus,  169. 

Pluto,  20, 169,  179. 

Pluto  (fern.),  278. 

Podarces,  240. 

Pceas,  244. 

Polybus,  273. 

Polycaste,  224. 

Polycletus,  39. 

Polydectes,  218,  220. 

Polydeuces  (Pollux),  196, 203, 224. 

Polydorus,  200,  207. 

Polyhymnia,  95. 

Polyidus,  263. 

Polynices,  274. 

Polyphemus,  120. 

Polyxena,  290. 

Pomona,  157. 

Pontus,  21,  22,  123. 

Poseidon,  17,  20,  23-25,  83,  118, 

208,  241. 
Pothus,  67. 
Priamus  (Priam),  211,  240,  278, 

286,  293. 
Priapus,  154. 
Procris,  252. 
Procrustes,  120,  254. 
Prcetides,  217. 
Proetus,  209,  216,  221. 
Prometheus,  187,  236. 
Proserpina  (vide  Persephone). 
Protesilaus,  287. 
Proteus,  125. 
Psyche,  92. 
Py&nepsia,  256,  260. 
PylSdes,  294. 
Pyrrha,  190. 

Pythia,  (vide  Delphian  Oracle). 
Python,  48,  218. 

Quinquatrus  Majores,  43. 
QuMnus,  89. 


310 


INDEX. 


Recaranup,  246. 

RhSdamanthvs    (Rhadamanthus), 

172. 

Rliea,  22,  82. 
Rhea  Cybele,  131. 
Rhode,  122. 

Salacia,  122. 
Salmoneus,  268. 
Salus,  114. 
Sandon,  239. 
Sarpedon, 261. 
Saturnalia,  156. 
Saturnus,  31, 155. 
Satyrs,  146. 
Sclron,  254, 
Scotos,  176. 
Scylla,  255. 

Selene,  22,  56, 107, 178. 
Semele,  31,127,133. 
Semnse,  176. 
Sibyls,  49. 
Slle'ni,  146, 148. 
Sllenus,  134, 148. 
Silvanus,  152. 
Simols,  277. 
Sinis,  254. 
Sinon,  291. 
Sirens,  127. 
Sirfus,  109. 
Sisyphus,  173,  207. 
Sleep,  179. 
Sol,  106. 
Solymi,  210. 
Soter  (Savior),  246. 
Sphinx,  273. 
Stars,  the,  109. 
Steropes,  22. 
Sthenebrea,  217. 
Sthgnelus,  229,  280. 
Stheno,  219. 
Strenfci,  114. 
Stnges,  114. 
StrSphlus,  294. 
Stymphalides,  232. 
Styx,  172. 
Syleus,  239. 


Symplegades,  269. 
Syrinx,  147,  150. 

Talos,  264. 

Tantalus,  173,  203,  278. 

Tartarus,  21,  24,  25. 

Tolamon,  240,  265,  269,  281,  283, 

296. 

Teleboae,  228. 
Telegonus,  296. 
Telemachus,  296. 
Telephassa,  196. 
Telephus,  241. 
Tellus,  131. 
Terminus,  153,  159. 
Terpsichore,  93. 
Tethys,  22, 116. 
Teucer,  240,  283,  296. 
Teuthras,  241. 
Thalia,  93,  95. 
Thallo,  100. 
Thanatus,  179. 
Thaumas,  22, 124. 
Thea  (Thia),  22,  106, 108. 
Themis,  22,  31,  91,  98. 
Thersander,  276. 
Theseus,  50,  120,  136,  192,  196, 

211,237,252,262,265,209. 
Thesmophoria,  164. 
Thesprotus,  280. 
Thestius,  224,  266. 
Thetis,  67,  78,  124,  282,  286,  288, 

290. 

Thoosa,  120. 
Thyestes,  280. 
Tiberinus,  88,  129. 
Tlresias,  276,  299. 
Tlsiphone,  174. 
Titans,  21,  22, 106. 
Tlthonus,  108,  236. 
Tityus,  48,  173. 
Toxeus,  266. 
Triptolemus,  163. 
Triton,  122,  123,151. 
Trollus,  288. 
TrOs,  104,  234,  277. 
Tyehe,  116. 


INDEX. 


311 


Ty-deus,  242,  269,  275,  285. 
Tyndareus,  224,  241,  281,  285. 
Typhoeus,  25. 
T^phon,  230,  235. 
Tyro,  268. 

tllysses  (vide  Odysseus). 

Urania,  93. 

Uranus,  21,  23,  25, 176. 

Venus,  67. 
Vertumnus,  157. 


Vesta,  83, 181. 
Victoria,  100. 
Vulcan  (Volcanus),  78,  80. 

Winds,  the,  110. 

Zephyrus,  108,  110. 
Zetes,  110,252,269. 
Zethus,  197,  200,  207. 
Zeus,  16,  20,  23,  27,  35,  72,  104, 
134,  187,  213. 


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